Calgary International Airport

YYC Calgary International Airport
Aéroport international de Calgary YYC
Summary
Airport type Public
Owner Transport Canada
Operator Calgary Airport Authority
Serves Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Hub for
Time zone MST (UTC−07:00)
 • Summer (DST) MDT (UTC−06:00)
Elevation AMSL 1,099 m / 3,606 ft
Coordinates 51°07′21″N 114°00′48″W / 51.12250°N 114.01333°W / 51.12250; -114.01333Coordinates: 51°07′21″N 114°00′48″W / 51.12250°N 114.01333°W / 51.12250; -114.01333
Website www.yyc.com
Map
YYC
YYC
YYC
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
08/26 1,890 6,200 Asphalt
11/29 2,438 8,000 Asphalt
17R/35L 3,863 12,675 Asphalt
17L/35R 4,267 14,000 Concrete
Statistics (2016)
Passengers 15,680,616
Cargo (tonnes) 137,255

YYC Calgary International Airport (IATA: YYC, ICAO: CYYC) is an international airport that serves the city of Calgary in Alberta, a province of Canada. Located approximately 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) northeast of downtown, the airport is the fourth-busiest in the country as of 2016, catering to roughly 15.7 million travellers. The region's oil, gas, and tourism industries have helped foster growth at the airport, which has nonstop flights to an array of destinations in North America, Central America, Europe, and Asia. YYC Calgary International is also a hub for two major Canadian airlines, Air Canada and WestJet.

Built in the late 1930s, the site has since grown to house four runways, two terminal buildings for passengers, warehouses for cargo handling, and other infrastructure. The Calgary Airport Authority operates the property while paying rent to the federal government. Close to the airport is the Deerfoot Trail freeway for transport into the city, and public transit also serves the airport.

History

The first airport to serve Calgary opened in 1914, in the neighbourhood of Bowness. It occupied one square kilometre and consisted of a hut and a grass runway.[1][2] Operations shifted to a new airport southwest of the city in 1928, named Old Banff Coach Road Airport. However, issues with turbulence in the area prompted another airfield to be built the following year in Renfrew. This site was known as Calgary Municipal Airport.[2]

As the city of Calgary grew in the area surrounding the Renfrew airport, the city government decided to relocate operations another time. It purchased an area of land north of Calgary in 1938 for about $31,000; this is the site of the current airport.[1][2] Equipped with a paved runway, the airport opened on 25 September of the following year, about two weeks after Canada entered World War II. As a result, the federal government assumed control of the site in 1940; war-related operations of the United Kingdom and the United States took place alongside regular passenger flights.[1][2] At the end of the war, the airport had been expanded to include four runways and additional hangars.[1] City officials resumed managing the airport and repurposed the new hangars as a passenger terminal.[2] An improved terminal opened in 1956, and the airport was named after Fred McCall afterward.[1][2]

Jet aircraft landed at the airport for the first time in 1961, and flights from Europe commenced the following year. The terminal received five expansions; however, the city government eventually did not have the funds to cope with rising traffic.[1][2] It proceeded to sell the site to the federal government in 1966 for $2 million. The new owner refurbished the runways and renamed the site "Calgary International Airport".[1] Eleven years later, it constructed a new terminal worth $130 million.[1][2]

The airport again came under local management in 1992 when the Calgary Airport Authority was formed, although the authority still pays rent to the federal government.[1][3] Four years later, WestJet began operations with a base at the airport, occupying an expanded area of the terminal.[2][4] Another runway was inaugurated in 2014,[5] and a new international terminal opened in 2016 at a cost of $1.6 billion, adding 24 gates.[2][6] "YYC", the IATA code for the Calgary airport, was also affixed to the airport's official name following a successful branding effort.[7]

Infrastructure

Passenger terminals

Inside the domestic terminal
The international terminal

The Calgary airport houses two terminals, one for domestic operations and the other for international flights. The domestic terminal itself contains three concourses labelled A, B and C; the international terminal is composed of Concourse E for United States–bound flights and Concourse D for flights to other countries.[8] Passengers travelling to the United States clear customs prior to departure at the preclearance facility.[9]

The international terminal operates under a call-to-gate system in which passengers wait in a main seating and shopping area; they then proceed to the gate once flight information is posted.[10] The two terminals are connected by both walkways and a separate path for the YYC Link service. Airport employees transport connecting passengers along this corridor in ten-seat vehicles.[6]

WestJet has criticized the design of the international terminal, which opened in 2016. The airline's CEO stated that the distance between the terminals was too long for connecting travellers and that YYC Link was insufficient to solve this problem. As a result, WestJet had to alter its schedules in order to allow additional time for passengers transiting through Calgary.[11][12] The Calgary Airport Authority responded that it did not see issues with the connections process, although it said passengers would need some time to adjust to the new facilities.[11]

Runways

The Calgary airport is equipped with four runways with the following dimensions:[13]

Runway 17L/35R was the longest runway in Canada at the time of its opening in 2014.[5] It is also the airport's only concrete runway; all other runways are composed of asphalt.[13]

Cargo

The airport has allotted an extensive amount of area for cargo operations, including over 3,000,000 square feet (280,000 m2) of warehouse space. Freight airlines such as Cathay Pacific Cargo and Cargolux make regular trips to Europe, Asia, and other destinations.[14][15] In 2015, the Calgary airport handled a total of 135,000 tonnes (149,000 short tons) of cargo, equivalent to 75% of all air freight in the province.[14]

Other facilities

At 91 metres (299 ft), the airport's air traffic control tower was the tallest standalone control tower in Canada upon its opening in 2013; compared to the previous tower, it has space for more air traffic controllers and is situated closer to the centre of the airport, giving controllers better views of the airfield.[16] Meanwhile, the headquarters of Canadian North as well as WestJet and its subsidiary WestJet Encore are located onsite.[17][18][19] There are also two hotels on the airport property.[20]

Airlines and destinations

Parked Boeing 737s belonging to WestJet
A taxiing Airbus A320 operated by Air Canada

In 2016, airlines offered nonstop service from Calgary to various destinations in Canada as well as to 45 cities in other countries, including Switzerland and China.[21] WestJet and Air Canada maintain hubs at the airport;[22][23] they were the busiest airlines in Calgary per the number of seats they offered on flights departing the city: 5,060,000 and 3,380,000, respectively. For comparison, the third-busiest airline by the same measure, United Airlines, provided 390,000 seats.[24] Ultimately, people continuing on to other destinations accounted for over 30% of total passenger traffic at YYC Calgary International.[21]

Besides connecting passengers, travellers taking part in Alberta's large oil and gas industries fuel growth at the airport. During periods of decline in these sectors of the economy, airlines such as WestJet have had to limit their flights to the city.[25][26] On the other hand, tourist attractions in the province, such as Banff National Park and Lake Louise, have attracted service as well. Hainan Airlines' Calgary–Beijing route is an example.[27]

AirlinesDestinations
AeroméxicoMexico City
Air CanadaFrankfurt, London–Heathrow, Los Angeles, Montréal–Trudeau, Newark, Ottawa, Tokyo–Narita, Toronto–Pearson, Vancouver
Seasonal: San José del Cabo (begins 29 October 2017)[28]
Air Canada ExpressCastlegar, Cranbrook, Edmonton, Fort McMurray, Grande Prairie, Houston–Intercontinental, Kamloops, Kelowna, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Nanaimo, Portland (OR), Red Deer, Regina, San Francisco, Saskatoon, Victoria, Winnipeg, Yellowknife
Seasonal: Phoenix–Sky Harbor, Seattle/Tacoma, Vancouver
Air Canada RougeLas Vegas
Seasonal: Cancún, Halifax, Huatulco (begins 6 November 2017),[29] Kahului, Phoenix–Sky Harbor, Puerto Vallarta
Air NorthEdmonton, Whitehorse
Air TransatCancún, Puerto Vallarta
Seasonal: Amsterdam, London–Gatwick, Punta Cana, San José del Cabo, Santa Clara, Toronto–Pearson, Varadero
Air Transat
operated by Flair Airlines		Cancún, San José del Cabo
Alaska AirlinesSeattle/Tacoma
Alaska Airlines
operated by Horizon Air		Seattle/Tacoma
American EagleDallas/Fort Worth
British AirwaysLondon–Heathrow
Canadian NorthCharter: Comox, Edmonton, London (ON), Vancouver
Central Mountain AirEdmonton, Lloydminster
CondorSeasonal: Frankfurt
Delta Air LinesSeasonal: Minneapolis/St. Paul
Delta ConnectionMinneapolis/St. Paul, Salt Lake City, Seattle/Tacoma
Edelweiss AirSeasonal: Zürich
Hainan AirlinesBeijing–Capital
Integra AirBonnyville
KLMAmsterdam
North Cariboo AirCharter: Edmonton, Vancouver
Northern AirPeace River, Whitecourt
R1 AirlinesCharter: Vancouver
Sunwing AirlinesSeasonal: Cancún, Cayo Coco, Huatulco, Ixtapa–Zihuatanejo, Liberia, Mazatlán, Montego Bay, Puerto Vallarta, Punta Cana, San José del Cabo, Santa Clara, Varadero
United AirlinesChicago–O'Hare, Houston–Intercontinental, San Francisco
Seasonal: Denver
United ExpressChicago–O'Hare, Denver, Houston–Intercontinental, San Francisco
WestJetAbbotsford, Cancún, Comox, Edmonton, Fort McMurray, Grande Prairie, Halifax, Hamilton (ON), Houston–Intercontinental, Kelowna, Kitchener/Waterloo, Las Vegas, London–Gatwick, London (ON), Los Angeles, Montréal–Trudeau, New York–JFK, Orlando, Ottawa, Palm Springs, Phoenix–Sky Harbor, Puerto Vallarta, Regina, San Diego, San José del Cabo, Saskatoon, Toronto–Pearson, Vancouver, Victoria, Winnipeg
Seasonal: Belize City (begins 3 November 2017),[30] Chicago–O'Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, Fort Lauderdale, Honolulu, Huatulco, Ixtapa–Zihuatanejo, Kahului, Liberia (CR), Loreto, Manzanillo, Mazatlán, Nashville, Nassau, Phoenix/Mesa, San Francisco, St. John's, Varadero, Windsor
WestJet EncoreBrandon, Comox, Edmonton, Fort McMurray, Fort St. John, Grande Prairie, Kamloops, Kelowna, Nanaimo, Penticton, Regina, Saskatoon, Vancouver, Yellowknife

Other operations

The following airlines operate out of their own private facilities:

Statistics

In 2016, YYC Calgary International was the fourth-busiest airport in the nation in terms of the total number of passengers that transited through the airport: about 15.7 million, the highest Calgary has witnessed. Despite an ongoing recession, there was a roughly 1.3% increase over 2015.[31][32] Of the total for 2016, travellers bound for domestic destinations constituted about 71%, and people travelling to the United States and other countries amounted to 29%.[32]

Passenger volumes for the period 2012–2016 are provided in the following table:[31][32][33]

Passenger traffic at the Calgary airport, 2012–2016
Year Passengers Change Notes
2012 13,641,339
2013 14,316,074 +4.9% Became third-busiest airport in Canada for the first time, ahead of the Montréal airport
2014 15,261,108 +6.6%
2015 15,475,759 +1.4% Again the fourth-busiest airport in the country
2016 15,680,616 +1.3%

Separately, over 137,000 tonnes (151,000 short tons) of cargo passed through the airport in 2016, another record.[31]

Ground transportation

Deerfoot Trail provides freeway access to the rest of the city.[34] There is also a tunnel beneath Runway 17L/35R that links the east side of the airport site to the terminal buildings.[35] Two parking garages and a rental-car facility are situated across from the terminals.[8][36] Public transport options are also available at the airport: Buses operated by Calgary Transit link YYC Calgary International to downtown, a nearby station of the local CTrain light-rail network, and other parts of the city.[37][38]

Notable accidents and incidents

A West Coast Airlines flight from Spokane to Calgary via Cranbrook made a crash-landing shortly before the runway in August 1963, although no one onboard was killed. A likely cause of the accident is the fact that the Fairchild F-27 was approaching the airport too low.[39]

Another incident occurred on the runway in March 1984, when Pacific Western Airlines Flight 501 attempted to take-off. A component of the left engine broke off and hit the fuel stores in the wing, resulting in a fire that spread over the left and back portions of the Boeing 737-200. The pilots aborted take-off and exited the runway onto a taxiway, where flight attendants evacuated all passengers. While some suffered severe injuries, none of the aircraft's occupants died.[40][41]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Calgary International Airport - History". Simon Fraser University. 2004. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Dippel, Scott (24 October 2016). "Shiny new terminal just the latest in a long line of Calgary airports". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  3. ↑ Stephenson, Amanda (7 December 2016). "Calgary airport CEO: Privatization no cure for high cost of air travel in Canada". Calgary Herald. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  4. ↑ "WestJet’s inspirational ascent from humble beginnings". CTV News. 18 February 2015. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  5. 1 2 "New Calgary runway officially open". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 29 June 2014. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  6. 1 2 Baskas, Harriet (31 October 2016). "New international terminal opens at Calgary Airport". USA Today. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  7. ↑ Tarasko, Mike (6 October 2016). "City airport officially named "YYC Calgary International"". 660 News. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  8. 1 2 "Terminal maps" (PDF). YYC Calgary International Airport. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  9. ↑ "Preclearance locations". U.S. Customs and Border Protection. 22 June 2017. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  10. ↑ Jarvie, Michele (31 October 2016). "Opening day flies by at new Calgary airport terminal". Calgary Herald. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  11. 1 2 Stephenson, Amanda (27 December 2016). "WestJet CEO blasts new terminal at YYC, says airport authority hasn't listened to concerns". Calgary Herald. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  12. ↑ Tighe, Tony (21 December 2016). "WestJet says passengers upset with Calgary airport connection travel times". Global News. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  13. 1 2 "CYYC - Calgary International Airport". SkyVector. 22 June 2017. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  14. 1 2 Parker, David (17 June 2016). "Parker: Calgary airport cargo traffic takes off". Calgary Herald. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  15. ↑ Vaessen, Doug; Freeman, Jenna (22 October 2014). "Massive cargo plane touches down at YYC for first time". Global News. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  16. ↑ Elliott, Tamara; Boushy, David (3 July 2013). "Look up, way up! Calgary Airport unveils new air traffic control tower". Global News. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  17. ↑ Keenan, Greg (2 May 2014). "WestJet CEO sets his sights on international skies". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 3 August 2017. A distinct corporate culture that forms part of the foundation of WestJet is evident in the airy, six-storey head office at its campus at Calgary International Airport and is mission critical for Mr. Saretsky.
  18. ↑ "Administration". Canadian North. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  19. ↑ Elliott, Tamara (19 March 2013). "WestJet’s new headquarters stay true to Calgary roots". Global News. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  20. ↑ "Onsite hotels". YYC Calgary International Airport. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  21. 1 2 Stephenson, Amanda (29 October 2016). "New international terminal to serve as Calgary's gateway to the world". Calgary Herald. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  22. ↑ "Air Canada corporate profile". Air Canada. April 2017. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  23. ↑ "Profile on WestJet". CAPA Centre for Aviation. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  24. ↑ "Calgary International Airport traffic doubles since 2001; Edelweiss Air and Hainan Airlines new carriers in 2016; Aeromexico coming in S17". Anna.aero. 2 May 2017. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  25. ↑ Logan, Shawn (25 January 2016). "Westjet drops 11 Alberta flights because of economic downturn". Calgary Herald. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  26. ↑ Cryderman, Kelly (25 January 2016). "WestJet to cut Alberta flights, shift capacity east". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  27. ↑ Jenkinson, Steve (5 February 2016). "Chinese airline launches non-stop flights between Calgary and Beijing". Calgary Herald. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  28. ↑ "Air Canada / rouge W17 Mexico/Caribbean changes". Routes Online. 3 July 2017. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
  29. ↑ "Air Canada / rouge W17 Mexico/Caribbean changes". Routes Online. 3 July 2017. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
  30. ↑ "WestJet plans additional Belize / Mexico service in W17". Routes Online. 23 July 2017. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
  31. 1 2 3 Stephenson, Amanda (27 January 2017). "Calgary International Airport had a record year for passenger traffic in 2016"Paid subscription required. Calgary Sun. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  32. 1 2 3 "Calgary International Airport local E&D passenger statistics" (PDF). YYC Calgary International Airport. 19 July 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 August 2017. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  33. ↑ "Calgary International Airport local E&D passenger statistics" (PDF). YYC Calgary International Airport. 27 January 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 February 2015. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  34. ↑ Google (4 August 2017). "Calgary International Airport (YYC)" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  35. ↑ Ho, Clara (26 May 2014). "Traffic takes off through $295-million tunnel". Calgary Herald. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  36. ↑ "Car rentals". YYC Calgary International Airport. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  37. ↑ "Route 100 - Airport/McKnight Stn". Calgary Transit. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  38. ↑ "Route 300 - BRT Airport/City Centre". Calgary Transit. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  39. ↑ "Accident description for West Coast Airlines Flight 794". Aviation Safety Network. 4 August 2017. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  40. ↑ "Accident description for Pacific Western Airlines Flight 501". Aviation Safety Network. 4 August 2017. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  41. ↑ "Related accidents/incidents". Federal Aviation Administration. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
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