Edmonton City Centre (Blatchford Field) Airport

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Edmonton City Centre (Blatchford Field) Airport
IATA: YXD - ICAO: CYXD
Summary
Airport type Public
Operator ATCO Frontec
Serves Edmonton
Elevation AMSL 2,200 ft (671 m)
Coordinates 53°34′21″N, 113°31′14″W
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
12/30 5,868 1,789 Asphalt
16/34 5,700 1,737 Asphalt

Edmonton City Centre (Blatchford Field) Airport, (IATA: YXD, ICAO: CYXD), is located within the city of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It's bordered by Yellowhead Trail to the north, Kingsway Avenue to the west, and 107th Avenue to the east. It encompasses approximately 144 acres (58 ha) of land just north of the Edmonton city centre. The airport is named for the former mayor Kenneth Alexander Blatchford. Before being named Edmonton City Centre Airport (ECCA), it was known as the Edmonton Municipal Airport.

Contents

[edit] History

The airport has a rich aviation history, being the first licensed airfield in Canada (1929). Characters such as Wop May helped pioneer aviation in Alberta and Northern Canada, further solidifying Blatchford Field as the "Gateway to the North". A full history can be gathered at the Alberta Aviation Museum.

The ECCA has been embroiled in a fierce debate for several decades. In the 1950s, the need for a longer set of runways to accommodate the larger aircraft on the horizon was clear. With no ability to expand CYXD, the search was on for a new site. After much debate, the current site for the Edmonton International Airport was chosen. Upon completion of the international airport in 1963, CYXD was to close. Political opposition to this move caused the City of Edmonton to keep CYXD open, and entered Edmonton into a 30+ year airport debate that has shaped logistics, transportation, and regional disparity issues ever since.

In 1992, the City of Edmonton held a plebiscite with the question of "Are you in favour of bylaw No. 10,205, The Edmonton Municipal Airport Referendum bylaw?". This bylaw kept CYXD open to all traffic that the field could legally handle. 54% approved. In 1995, a second plebiscite was put forth to the citizens of Edmonton asking if the bylaw should be repealed on the basis of consolidating all scheduled traffic at CYEG and keeping CYXD open for 56 years to general and corporate traffic. 77% of voters approved this version, and in June 1996, the consolidation process was finalised.

Currently, CYXD remains open as per the lease with the City of Edmonton. There are small passenger airlines that can utilise the facility under the Passenger Access Policy, available at the Edmonton Airports website. These airlines cannot transport more than 10 passengers and are restricted to which destinations they can serve - primarily destinations North of the city.

[edit] Amenities

For private and corporate aviation, there are two Fixed base operator's (FBO) on site, located on the west side of the airfield off of Taxiway A. Additional on-site amenities include the well done Alberta Aviation Museum, two hotels, and a cafeteria in the Edmonton Flying Club's building.

In close proximity to the field is shopping at Kingsway Garden Mall, Canadian Tire, the Chateau Louis (hotel), Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT), and the VIA Rail train station to the north (off of Bush Pilot Road).

Private air ambulances use the ESSO Avatat hangar to store their ground support units. A STARS air ambulance is also based at the airport.

[edit] Airfield

Due to its location in the central portion of the city, there are both curfew restrictions and noise abatement procedures. The field maintains 24 X 7 operations, with the strictest noise regulations in effect from 22:00h to 07:00h local time. More information can be garnered from Edmonton Airports or from NAV CANADA.

The runways are placed in an intersecting "V" configuration, with the intersection near the displaced thresholds of runways 34 and 30. There is one CAT 1 Instrument Landing System (ILS) approach on runway 34, and a LOC BC Distance Measuring Equipment (DME) approach for Runway 16. Runway 12/30 is visual with the approach aid being Precision Approach Path Indicator (PAPI) (12) or Visual Approach Slope Indicator (VASI) (30).

Frequencies are :

[edit] Economic impact

The ECCA employs roughly 1,000 people, and adds $388 million in economic output as well as $18 million in tax revenues for the city of Edmonton. It generated $4.6 million in direct revenue for Edmonton Airports, with expenses of $3.9 million.

[edit] Future plans

The land that the ECCA sits on is being leased from the city for a period of 56 years. Despite having a rich 70 year history some people believe that the corporate, general and military aviation services should be transferred to the Edmonton International Airport, so that the land can be re-developed into a high density urban village and serve as a new location for Rexall Place. However, there are others that see the benefits to the city of having a central airfield for general and corporate aviation, so the debate continues.

[edit] Flight schools at CYXD

[edit] Trivia

  • Since 2005, the airport has annually been converted into a speedway for the Edmonton Grand Prix Champ Car race.
  • The last terminal building constructed on the site is now a school for Aboriginal Canadians, the Amiskwaciy Academy.
  • Taxiway D was once the third runway at CYXD.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

[edit] External links


Airports in Canada
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Regional/Local Airports
| Alberta | British Columbia | Manitoba | New Brunswick | Newfoundland and Labrador | Northwest Territories |
| Nova Scotia | Nunavut | Ontario | Prince Edward Island | Quebec | Saskatchewan | Yukon |
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