| Stephenville International Airport | |||
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| IATA: YJT – ICAO: CYJT – WMO: 71815 |
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| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Public | ||
| Operator | Stephenville Airport Corporation | ||
| Serves | Stephenville, Corner Brook, Port Aux Basques | ||
| Location | Stephenville, Newfoundland and Labrador | ||
| Elevation AMSL | 81 ft / 25 m | ||
| Coordinates | |||
| Website | |||
| Map | |||
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CYJT
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| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| ft | m | ||
| 02/20 | 3,959 | 1,207 | Asphalt/Concrete |
| 09/27 | 10,011 | 3,051 | Asphalt |
| Statistics (2010) | |||
| Aircraft movements | 2,164 | ||
| Sources: Canada Flight Supplement[1] Environment Canada[2] Movements from Statistics Canada.[3] |
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Stephenville International Airport (IATA: YJT, ICAO: CYJT) is an airport located 1.5 NM (2.8 km; 1.7 mi) southeast of Stephenville, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. It was built by the United States Air Force and operated as Ernest Harmon Air Force Base from 1941-1966.
The airport serves not only the town of Stephenville, but the city of Corner Brook to the north, and as far south as Port aux Basques, making the total catchment 90,000 people.
The airport is classified as an airport of entry by NAV CANADA and is staffed by the Canada Border Services Agency.
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Stephenville International Airport provides scheduled and charter air service to a catchment population of approximately 90,000 people, from the city of Corner Brook 65 km to the north to the town of Port aux Basques 120 km (75 mi) to the south.
In 1941 the United States obtained rights to construct a United States Army Air Forces base in the St. George's Bay area of Newfoundland. The U.S. 76th Congress approved the 99 year lease and in April 1941, construction began.
The USAAF base was originally referred to as Stephenville Air Base. However after the USAAF became the United States Air Force in 1947, it was renamed Ernest Harmon Air Force Base on June 23, 1948, in honour of Captain Ernest Emery Harmon. Harmon was a US Army Air Corps ace who was killed in an air crash in 1933.
On September 1, 1943, the Newfoundland Base Command transferred control of Harmon Field to the North Atlantic Wing, Air Transport Command. The base became a part of the Northeast Air Command in October, 1950. Then in April 1957, the Strategic Air Command assumed control.
The mandate of the base was to maintain a tanker alert force and its capability to meet and refuel Strategic Air Command jet bombers en route to targets. The KC-97 Stratotanker was employed in this task.
The base was also used as a refueling stop for transatlantic military flights. In addition, Harmon supported three Air Defense Command units. In 1957, the Canadian Department of Transportation constructed an airport terminal to accommodate Trans-Canada Air Lines (now Air Canada). 1966 saw the closure of the U.S. Air Force Base in Stephenville.
The airport is now owned and operated by the local Airport Authority, the Stephenville Airport Corporation Inc. Stephenville Airport was officially designated as an alternate in the Trans Oceanic Plane Stop (TOPS) program on 23 July 1970.
Since the late 1990s, Stephenville has been designated as one of five Canadian airports suitable as an emergency landing site for the Space Shuttle.[4]
On 1 April 1990 the airport was further designated for alternate use, fueling only, by international scheduled air transport and for international general aviation regular use.
The Newfoundland and Labrador government's new plan, called Taking Flight, hopes to enhance air travel in the province by working closely with airports and airlines. For the airlines, if they create a new route the government can give it up to $750,000 to help promote that route.
On September 11, 2001, 8 civilian airliners made unscheduled landings at the Stephenville Airport following the closure of North American airspace in the wake of the terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, DC. An unwitting participant in Operation Yellow Ribbon, the town managed to host the near 3,000 stranded passengers, which lasted for approximately one week.
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Air Saint-Pierre | Charter: Saint Pierre et Miquelon (Special Event only)[5] |
| Provincial Airlines[6] | Sunday through Friday: St. John's NL. |
| Sunwing Airlines | Summer Seasonal: Toronto (weekly) |
Marine Institute of Memorial University of Newfoundland, as part of Memorial University, the largest university in Atlantic Canada, training courses developed by the SERT Centre are subject to rigorous academic scrutiny. The majority of courses delivered at the Centre are also accredited or approved by national and international regulatory and other external approving agencies. A team of qualified, experienced instructors and modern training equipment assures the quality of training delivery. Additionally, the SERT Centre is part of the Marine Institute, which is an ISO 9001 accredited training organization, and subject to regular audits and is based at the Stephenville International Airport.
Stephenville Airport is one of a five of sites along eastern Canada designated as an alternate landing site for the Space Shuttle orbiter.[7]
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.
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