The Yellowknife Airport was first built in the summer of 1944 by Canadian Pacific Airlines (CPAL) under the direction of Walter Gilbert, the district manager. Construction took six men five days and cost $450. The single strip ran parallel to Long Lake.
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At that time, there was no road from the Yellowknife townsite to the airport, a distance of five kilometres. Passengers using the airport had to use a float plane shuttle between the town and the strip. They were called ‘elevator trips’ locally because they were mostly up and down. In the winter of 1945, equipment was brought in from Fort Simpson and a road was built from the town to the airstrip. |
The Department of Transport took over the operation of the airport from CPAL in 1946. In 1946 and 1947, two new gravel runways were built, about half a kilometre south of the original strip.
| In 1946, two airlines started service in the Yellowknife area. Northern Flights Ltd. (owner of the first DC-3 to be placed in public service in the Yellowknife area) began operations in June 1946 to Edmonton, Peace River and Fort St. John. Max Ward, later the founder of Wardair, was a pilot for the company. Canadian Pacific Airlines began service to Edmonton via Fort Smith and Fort McMurray. |
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The Department of Transport began major improvements to the airport in 1954. Two runways were paved. Tender specifications required 24-hour operations by the contractor and completion by September 1, 1954. One of the major difficulties of construction in the north is getting the necessary equipment to the construction site. In April 1954, the team of Curry and Lamoureaux brought in 120 tons of heavy construction equipment by tractor train across the ice of Great Slave Lake from Hay River in three and a half days.
The Yellowknife airport was used by the Canadian Army and the RCAF mobile striking force in 1955 in an exercise called “Bull Dog Three”. The manoeuvres included an airborne assault by troops and aircraft against the airport and installations.
In May 1957, Yellowknife airport achieved international status as an alternate airport when Canadian Pacific Airlines introduced non-stop DC-6B Empress flights from Vancouver to Amsterdam. The 13-hour, 6,115 kilometre route over Yellowknife is 2,376 kilometres shorter than by way of Edmonton and Montreal.
A modern terminal building was constructed in 1963, and, due to increased air traffic, a new control tower was added to it in 1972. The terminal was enlarged in 1973, 1989 and again in 2005 to accommodate increased traffic in the area. A major renovation of the existing terminal was completed in 2006.
Today the airport has two paved runways: 09-27, 5,000 ft (1,524 metres) long, and 15-33, 7,500 ft (2,286 metres) long. Yellowknife airport has six (6) scheduled carriers: First Air, Canadian North, Air Canada Jazz, Buffalo Airways, Air Tindi and Northwestern Air Lease. As well, there are several charter companies operating out of the airport. In 2007, the Yellowknife Airport experienced over 70,000 aircraft movements and enplaned and deplaned over 500,000 passengers.
Yellowknife airport is of major importance to the economic health of the area. As of 2006, 1250 people are employed at the Yellowknife airport on either a full-time or part-time basis.