Toronto/Downsview Airport

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Toronto/Downsview Airport

IATA: YZD – ICAO: CYZD
Summary
Airport type Private
Owner Bombardier Aerospace
Operator DeHavilland Inc
Location Toronto, Ontario
Elevation AMSL 652 ft / 199 m
Coordinates 43°44′34″N 079°27′56″W / 43.74278, -79.46556
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
15/33 7,000 2,134 Asphalt
Source: Canada Flight Supplement[1]

Downsview Airport or Toronto/Downsview Airport, (IATA: YZD, ICAO: CYZD), is located in Toronto, Ontario and has been exclusively owned and used as a testing facility by Bombardier Aerospace since 1994.

Downsview Airport has its own fire service (Bombardier Emergency Services) which covers airport operations (using two airport fire rescue vehicles) and plant operations (using two SUV emergency vehicles). Bombardier Emergency Services employees are cross-trained as fire fighters, first responders.

Contents

[edit] History

See also: Downsview Airfield

The Downsview Airport was developed in 1939 as an airfield next to an aircraft manufacturing plant operated by de Havilland Canada. In 1947, the Department of National Defence purchased property surrounding the airfield and expanded it, creating RCAF Station Downsview to provide an air base for Royal Canadian Air Force units. The base was renamed Canadian Forces Base Toronto (Downsview) in 1968 and retained this name until its closure in 1994.

Since 1998, the property has been administered by a civilian Crown corporation Parc Downsview Park, which co-manages the airfield with Bombardier Aerospace (the successor to de Havilland Canada). In recent years the property has been undergoing various landscape usage plans and some redevelopment has taken place.

The airfield was used in recent years to host the 1984 and 2002 Papal visits by Pope John Paul II, as well as to host the 2003 Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) concert headlined by the Rolling Stones.

The airfield has also served as a test site for several famous aircraft produced by de Havilland and Avro, including the Beaver, the Twin Otter, Dash 8 and the Avro Arrow. The airport is available to pilots only with prior permission.

Bombardier Aerospace currently owns 12 hangars in the southwest corner of the airport, where De Havilland Dash 8's are built and assembled. The Bombardier Global Express and the Bombardier Global 5000 are also assembled here at the Downsview plant, as are the wings and wingboxes of the Learjet 45.

[edit] Tenants

Buildings located within or next to the airport:

  • de Havilland Canada facility (1929) - now home to the Toronto Aerospace Museum
  • Bombardier Aerospace facility - southwest end of the airport
  • CFB Downsview hangers - northeast end of the airport
  • farmers market - northwest end

[edit] Roads

Most of the roads at Downsview are city owned roadways:

  • John Drury Drive
  • Yukon Lane
  • Carl Hall Road
  • Canuck Avenue
  • Hanover Road
  • Beffort Road
  • Robert Woodhead Crescent

[edit] Military Housing

A series of homes built for Canadian Forces personnel were built at the corner of Keele Street and Sheppard Avenue West. Access to Robert Woodhead Crescent and John Drury Drive was restricted to base personnel and fenced off from the neighbouring properties. Housing remains at the site, but it is unclear who lives or owns those homes today.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Canada Flight Supplement. Effective 0901Z 10 April 2008 to 0901Z 5 June 2008

[edit] See also

Coordinates: 43°44′37″N 79°27′59″W / 43.743538, -79.466332

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