Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport

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"Winnipeg Airport" redirects here. For other airports in Winnipeg, see List of airports in the Winnipeg area.
Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport
Winnipeg International Airport

IATA: YWG – ICAO: CYWG
Summary
Airport type Public
Owner Transport Canada[1]
Operator Winnipeg Airports Authority
Serves Winnipeg, Manitoba
Elevation AMSL 738 ft / 239 m
Coordinates 49°54′36″N 097°14′04″W / 49.91, -97.23444
Website www.waa.ca
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
13/31 8,700 2,652 Asphalt
18/36 11,000 3,353 Asphalt
Statistics (2007)
Aircraft Movements 151,065
Number of Passengers 3,565,501
Sources: Canada Flight Supplement[2]
Statistics from Transport Canada.[3]
Passenger statistics from Winnipeg Airports[4]

Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport (IATA: YWG, ICAO: CYWG) is an airport in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. In 2007 it was the seventh busiest airport in Canada by passenger traffic, serving just over 3.5 million passengers,[4] and the 11th busiest airport by aircraft movements.[3] It is also an Air Canada Jazz and WestJet focus city.

Winnipeg is also Canada's third largest airport by cargo tonnage, with approximately 150,000 metric tonnes of air cargo moving through the airport in 2005. Two of Canada's largest air cargo companies use Winnipeg as a major domestic hub: Purolator and Cargojet. (Smaller cargo, courier and charter operations from Calm Air International, FedEx Express, Perimeter Aviation, NAC Air and UPS also fly out of YWG.) It is one of five airports in Canada designated under the federal government's International Cargo Transshipment Program, one of eight Canadian airports that has US Border Pre-clearance facilities and one of 26 airports that make up Canada's National Airports System.[1]

Winnipeg Airport has closed its third runway (07/25), which had a length of 4,600 ft (1,402 m).

Contents

[edit] History

The airport opened in 1928 as Stevenson Aerodrome in honour of the noted Manitoba aviator and pioneer bush pilot, Captain Fred J. Stevenson. Stevenson Aerodrome (Stevenson Field) was Canada's first international airport. In 1958, at the request of the Canadian Department of Transport, Stevenson Field was officially renamed the Winnipeg International Airport.

The existing terminal building was built in 1964, and was designed by the architectural firm of Green Blankstein Russell and Associates (subsequently GBR Associates and Stantec Limited). It was expanded and renovated in 1984 by the architectural firm of IKOY, and a hotel was built opposite the terminal building in 1998. The terminal building is an example of modernist International Style architecture.

On 10 December 2006, the Minister of Transport Lawrence Cannon announced Winnipeg International Airport was to be renamed Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport in honour of James Armstrong Richardson, Sr.[5]

[edit] Airport redevelopment

A major project involving the construction of a new terminal (phase 1) is underway. The new terminal, to be located northeast of the existing terminal, is being constructed with newer airplanes such as the Boeing 787 and the Airbus A380 in mind, and will also open Winnipeg up to widebody aircraft such as the Boeing 747/777 and Airbus A330/A340. Construction began in the early spring of 2007, and the terminal should be completed by 2009/2010. The current terminal's fate is still to be decided: it may be either demolished, be converted into a commercial complex or become the new home of the Western Canada Aviation Museum.

Along with the new terminal, a new access road was built and opened in October 2006, and a new four-level, 1,559 stall parkade (parking garage) has been opened as of November 2006.

The terminal was designed by the world famous architect César Pelli.

There are now plans for a new luxury airport hotel across from the new terminal as well as office building between the current hotel and new parkade. Future airport plans include siting the new bus terminal in the airport complex.[6] The new Canada Post plant will also be built at the airport site.[7]

[edit] Airlines and destinations

Current airlines including Bearskin Airlines, Calm Air International and First Air fly out of the main terminal, other airlines serving northern communities fly out of the Perimeter Airlines terminal located across from the Western Canada Aviation Museum, at the Flightcraft Terminal or at the general/commercial aviation terminals located on the west side of the airport complex.

[edit] Current airlines

  • Air Canada (Cancún [seasonal], Calgary, Montego Bay [seasonal], Montreal, Ottawa, Punta Cana [seasonal], Toronto-Pearson, Vancouver)
    • Air Canada Jazz (Calgary, Edmonton, Regina, Saskatoon, Thunder Bay, Toronto-Pearson)
  • Air Transat (Cancun, Montego Bay, Puerto Plata, Puerto Vallarta, Punta Cana, Varadero) [seasonal]
    • Air Transat operated by Westjet (Bahias de Huatulco, Los Cabos) [seasonal]
  • Air West Aviation
  • Bearskin Airlines (Flin Flon, Fort Frances, Dryden, Kenora, Red Lake, Sioux Lookout, The Pas, Thunder Bay)
  • Calm Air (Arviat, Baker Lake, Churchill, Flin Flon, Gillam, Rankin Inlet, The Pas, Thompson, Whale Cove, Chesterfield Inlet, Coral Harbour, Repulse Bay)
  • Execaire
  • Fast Air
  • First Air (Rankin Inlet, Thompson)
  • Keystone Air Service (Dauphin, Swan River)
  • Kistigan Air (Garden Hill)
  • Kivalliq Air (Chesterfield Inlet, Churchill, Coral Harbour, Rankin Inlet, Repulse Bay, Whale Cove)
  • Northway Aviation
  • Northwest Airlines (Minneapolis/St. Paul)
  • Perimeter Airlines (Berens River, Brandon, Cross Lake, Dauphin, God's Lake Narrows, God's River, Island Lake, Norway House, Oxford House, Red Sucker Lake, Shamattawa, South Indian Lake, St. Theresa Pt., Brochet, Lac Brochet, Tadoule Lake, Thompson, York Landing)
  • SkyNorth (various northern locations on charter and "sched" routes)
  • Skyservice (Bahias de Huatulco, Cancun, Holguin, Mazatlan, Puerto Plata, Puerto Vallarta, Punta Cana, Varadero) [seasonal]
  • Sunwing Airlines (Cancún, Cayo Santa Maria, Cozumel, Holguin, Punta Cana, Toronto-Pearson, Varadero) [seasonal]
  • United Airlines
  • Wapun Air (St. Therese Point)
  • WestJet (Calgary, Edmonton, Hamilton, Las Vegas, London (ON), Montréal, Ottawa, Phoenix [seasonal], Regina, Saskatoon, Thunder Bay, Toronto-Pearson, Vancouver)
  • Zoom Airlines (London-Gatwick) [seasonal]

[edit] Cargo airlines

[edit] Former airlines

[edit] Directions to the airport

The airport is connected to the Winnipeg city centre via Wellington Avenue, which connects to Winnipeg Route 90. Airport users can access the terminal from downtown via Winnipeg Transit bus service (Route 15 Sargent/Mountain).

[edit] Incidents and accidents

In 2006-2007, 16 flights were diverted to the airport due to emergencies en route.[8]

  • On 23 July 1983 Air Canada Flight 143 a Boeing 767 trying to reach Winnipeg as an alternate, was forced to make an emergency landing in Gimli, Manitoba after running out of fuel. No one was injured. This incident was the subject of the TV movie, Falling from the Sky: Flight 174, starring William Devane and the book, Freefall, by William Hoffer.
  • On 3 March 2007 British Airways Flight BA289, a Boeing 747 flying from London Heathrow Airport to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, made an unscheduled landing at Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport after a passenger became unruly when he was refused alcohol. The passenger was charged with mischief, causing a disturbance and failing to comply with instructions from the flight crew. The aircraft sat on the tarmac for two hours before resuming its trip to Phoenix.[9]
  • On 19 June 2007, a Northwest Airlines Boeing 747 cargo plane en route from Wilmington, Ohio to Anchorage, Alaska made an emergency landing at Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport after reporting a fire inside the airplane. No one was injured. After cleanup, an unrelated engine problem saw the 747 leave Winnipeg on three engines, a week later.[10]
  • On 1 August 2007, British Midland Flight BD752 flying from Las Vegas to Manchester, England was diverted to Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport after a 19-year old male passenger failed to comply with crew instructions. The passenger was charged with mischief, uttering threats to cause death or bodily harm, and failing to comply with the flight crew's instructions under the Air Navigation Order. The Airbus A330 resumed flight two hours after being diverted.[11]
  • On 18 April 2008, a WestJet Boeing 737-700 aircraft en route from Hamilton to Calgary carrying 106 people including crew had to make an emergency landing at Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport because of a potential hydraulic issue. The airliner landed without incident and no one was injured as a result.

[edit] References

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b Airport Divestiture Status Report
  2. ^ Canada Flight Supplement. Effective 0901Z 10 April 2008 to 0901Z 5 June 2008
  3. ^ a b - Aircraft Movement Statistics: NAV CANADA Towers and Flight Service Stations: Annual Report 2007
  4. ^ a b Winnipeg Airports Authority Statistics
  5. ^ Winnipeg Airport Authority, Press release: "Canada's New Government Renames Winnipeg International Airport in Honour of James Armstrong Richardson." Retrieved: 14 December 2006.
  6. ^ SkyscraperPage Forum
  7. ^ Canada Post announces new state-of-the-art plant to be built at the airport
  8. ^ CTV News Report 16 October 2007
  9. ^ Winnipeg Sun article
  10. ^ Warning signal forces cargo plane to land (The Winnipeg Free Press Online Edition: 19 June 2007)
  11. ^ Midland Flight

[edit] Bibliography

  • Canada's Airports: Reinvention & Success. Ottawa: Insight Media commissioned by the Canadian Airports Council (CAC), 2005.

[edit] External links