Prince George Airport

Prince George Airport
IATA: YXS – ICAO: CYXS
– WMO: 71896
Summary
Airport type Public
Owner Transport Canada[1]
Operator Prince George Airport Authority
Serves Prince George, British Columbia
Time zone PST (UTC−08:00)
 • Summer (DST) PDT (UTC−07:00)
Elevation AMSL 2,267 ft / 691 m
Coordinates 53°53′03″N 122°40′39″W / 53.88417°N 122.67750°WCoordinates: 53°53′03″N 122°40′39″W / 53.88417°N 122.67750°W
Website www.pgairport.ca
Map
CYXS

Location in British Columbia

Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
01/19 3,770 1,149 Asphalt
06/24 5,624 1,714 Asphalt
15/33 11,450 3,490 Asphalt
Statistics (2010)
Aircraft movements 42,997

Prince George Airport (IATA: YXS, ICAO: CYXS) is an airport that serves Prince George, British Columbia, Canada, and the surrounding area. It is located just within the southern boundary of the city, 2.8 nautical miles (5.2 km; 3.2 mi) southeast,[2] and is run by the Prince George Airport Authority.

It is home to the fourth longest commercial runway in Canada and the 2nd longest in British Columbia. It is Canada’s newest designated tech stop airport it can handle all wide body, main deck freighters and can refuel any size aircraft in less than 90 minutes. YXS can connect air to road access throughout the country in less than 24hours for western Canada and the Pacific Northwest. The Prince George Airport works with all major multinational freight forwarders.

In 2013, 426,709 passengers used YXS which was a record breaking year for the airport passenger traffic wise. The PG Airport offers 18 flights a business day between YXS and Vancouver serviced by WestJet and Air Canada. Central Mountain Air and Northern Thunderbird Air also have scheduled and charter services to many points in Northern and Central BC. WestJet and Central Mountain Air fly daily non stop flights to Calgary, Alberta.

The airport is classified as an airport of entry by NAV CANADA and is staffed by the Canada Border Services Agency.

History

Entrance to the terminal

First opened in 1928, and until 1940, the airport's initial site was at the intersections of Highway 97 and Highway 16 (the same site is currently being used as a golf course).

During the 1930s and 40s, it also contained Pineview Elementary, which was renamed the Airport School. In 1941, after the completion of runway 14/32 (now 15/33), U.S. based Pan American World Airways (Pan Am) operated from the Prince George Airport as a stopover location on its Seattle to Fairbanks route. In 1942, Canadian Pacific Air Lines began offering scheduled flights six times a week into Prince George. Canadian Pacific and its successors CP Air and Canadian Airlines International served the airport for many years. Over the years, Canadian Pacific operated such twin engine prop aircraft as the Lockheed Lodestar, the Douglas DC-3 and the Convair 240 as well as the larger, four engine Douglas DC-6B propliner and Bristol Britannia turboprop.[5] In 1953, the first lights were installed along runway 14/32 (now 15/33). Later that same year, a United States Air Force B-29 Superfortress was forced to make an emergency landing along the same runway. It landed 18 in (46 cm) deep inside the tarmac.

The Prince George Airport was commercialized in 1963 when Mrs. P. Richardson opened the first coffee shop in the terminal. Wildlife such as moose or deer can be seen occasionally from the runway.

CP Air operated jet service into the airport during the 1970s primarily with the Boeing 737-200 jetliner with nonstop flights to Vancouver, Fort St. John and Whitehorse as well as direct, no change of plane service to Edmonton, Grande Prairie, Fort Nelson and Watson Lake.[6] CP Air also operated nonstop Boeing 727-100 jet service to Vancouver during the mid 1970s.[7] Pacific Western Airlines served Prince George as well at this same time with Boeing 737-200 jet service to Vancouver, Edmonton, Kamloops and Dawson Creek, and de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter turboprop and Douglas DC-3 propliner flights to Kelowna, Penticton, Prince Rupert, Smithers, Terrace, Quesnel and Williams Lake.[8] CP Air and Pacific Western would continue to compete with nonstop service to Vancouver into the 1980s with both airlines flying Boeing 737-200 jetliners on the route.[9] Pacific Western would subsequently acquire CP Air with the combined airlines then operating as Canadian Airlines International.

The Prince George Airport underwent a significant expansion and revitalization from 2003 to 2005 that included the development of more check-in counters, larger pre-board screening and holding areas, new baggage carousels, and a border control facility for processing international flights.

On November 17, 2009, the first Boeing 747 aircraft touched down at Prince George Airport, as part of a refueling stop.[10] It was a Southern Air cargo flight, en route from Caracas, Venezuela to Shanghai, China. This comes as a result of a runway expansion, increasing the length of runway 15/33 to 11,450 ft (3,490 m), making it the third longest runway in Western Canada, behind Calgary International (14,000 ft (4,267 m)) and Vancouver International (11,500 ft (3,505 m)).[11]

On December 19, 2009 a fire destroyed the Northern Thunderbird Air terminal with no loss of life[12] The airline has stated that operations will continue as normal despite the setback[13]

On July 13, 2012, the third largest operating cargo aircraft landed at YXS to pick up cargo. The Antonov-124 touched down safely to pick up 7 helicopters from VIH Helicopters en route to Luanda, Angola. The aircraft also fueled up at YXS while onsite. The Antonov returned to Prince George three months later with the helicopters.

Airlines and destinations

Airlines Destinations
Air Canada Express Vancouver
Central Mountain Air Calgary, Fort Nelson, Fort St. John, Kamloops, Kelowna, Smithers, Terrace
Hawkair Vancouver
Northern Thunderbird Air Williston Lake
Pacific Coastal Airlines Victoria[14]
WestJet Vancouver
Seasonal: Puerto Vallarta
WestJet Encore Calgary, Vancouver

The airport is the head office for Northern Thunderbird Air which provides flights to Williston Lake destinations and charters as well as for the flight school and charter flight company Guardian Aerospace.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Airport Divestiture Status Report
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Canada Flight Supplement. Effective 0901Z 24 July 2014 to 0901Z 18 September 2014
  3. ↑ Synoptic/Metstat Station Information
  4. ↑ Total aircraft movements by class of operation — NAV CANADA towers
  5. ↑ http://www.timetableimages.com, Dec. 1, 1943; Nov. 1, 1953; April 29, 1962 & April 24, 1966 Canadian Pacific Air Line system timetables
  6. ↑ http://www.timetableimages.com, July 15, 1970 CP Air system timetable
  7. ↑ http://www.North American Official Airline Guide (OAG), Feb. 1, 1976 edition, Prince George flight schedules
  8. ↑ North American Official Airline Guide (OAG), Feb. 1, 1976 edition, Prince George flight schedules
  9. ↑ http://www.timetableimages.com, Official Airline Guide (OAG), Feb. 1, 1985 edition, Prince George to Vancouver flight schedules
  10. ↑ http://www.flightsource.ca/blog/flightdeck/?p=792
  11. ↑ http://www.pgairport.ca/Airport_Info/updates.php
  12. ↑ Fire Destroys hangar at Prince George Airport
  13. ↑ Northern Thunderbird Air Press Release
  14. ↑ "Pacific Coastal Airlines Adds Victoria - Prince Service from Jan 2015". Airline Route. 30 October 2014. Retrieved 30 October 2014.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Prince George Airport.