John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport

John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport
Hamilton Airport
Summary
Airport type Public
Owner City of Hamilton
Operator Tradeport International Corp.
Serves Hamilton, Ontario
Greater Toronto Area
Golden Horseshoe
Hub for
Time zone EST (UTC−05:00)
 • Summer (DST) EDT (UTC−04:00)
Elevation AMSL 780 ft / 238 m
Coordinates 43°10′25″N 079°56′06″W / 43.17361°N 79.93500°W / 43.17361; -79.93500Coordinates: 43°10′25″N 079°56′06″W / 43.17361°N 79.93500°W / 43.17361; -79.93500
Website www.flyhamilton.ca
Map
CYHM

Location in Ontario

Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
06/24 6,010 1,832 Asphalt
12/30 10,006 3,050 Asphalt
Statistics (2014/2016)
Aircraft movements 36,008
Number of Passengers 333,368

John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport (IATA: YHM, ICAO: CYHM) is an international airport located in Mount Hope, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. It is named for John Carr Munro, former Canadian Member of Parliament in Hamilton and cabinet minister. The airport is situated 11 km (6.8 mi) and 64 km (40 mi) southwest of Downtown Hamilton and Downtown Toronto, respectively.[1] It is one of four airports serving Greater Toronto providing scheduled passenger service and serves as an alternate and reliever for nearby Toronto Pearson International Airport. Former British airline Flyglobespan referred to the airport as Toronto Hamilton International Airport.[5]

Hamilton International is designed for use by large airplanes on overseas flights, and includes a 10,006 ft × 200 ft (3,050 m × 61 m) asphalt runway with centreline lighting for low-visibility operations, and a smaller 6,010 ft × 150 ft (1,832 m × 46 m) asphalt runway. It is classified as an airport of entry by Nav Canada and is staffed by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). CBSA officers at this airport handle aircraft with no more than 220 passengers; however, they can handle up to 400 if the aircraft is unloaded in stages.[1] The airport also hosts the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum. Hamilton can see cargo operations with very large aircraft such as the more commonly seen Antonov An-124 or an occasional Boeing 747. Because of this Hamilton has developed a niche community of aircraft spotters.

History

From beginning to 1980s

Map of the Airport

Hamilton's first airport was the Hamilton Municipal Airport at Reid Avenue North and Dunsmure Road (site of Roxborough Park) in 1929. It began as the home to the Hamilton Aeroclub. The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) became a major user of the airport in the 1930s, but the airport closed in the 1950s to make way for residential development.[6]

The current Hamilton Airport was built in 1940 as the Mount Hope Airport or RCAF Station Hamilton, an RCAF base. During World War II, the field hosted two units for the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan: first, No.10 Elementary Flying Training School (later moved to RCAF Station Pendleton) using the De Havilland Tiger Moth and Fleet Finch, then No.33 Air Navigation School using the Avro Anson. After the war, the airport gradually shifted towards civil use, until the military ceased using it as a base for Air Reserve operations in 1964.

From 1969 to 1985, Nordair offered jet service from Hamilton to Montreal, Grand Bahama Island and Windsor.[7] City Express flew to Montreal and Ottawa for three months in 1985. Tempus Air offered same route as City Express from 1986 to 1988. USAir began service to Pittsburgh in 1987. By 1988, Pan Am Express flew to New York City and Nationair flew to London, England. Pan Am Express and Nationair stopped their operations at Hamilton in the following year. Canadian Partner began service to Montreal and Ottawa in 1989.

1990s

Canadian Partner's service to Montreal and Ottawa ended in 1991.[7] In the same year, Pem-Air and Air Laurentian offered service to Ottawa but both airlines stopped the route in 1993. Northwest Airlink offered flights to Detroit from 1992 to 1993. There was no scheduled passenger service until Greyhound Air flew to Hamilton in 1996 before the company folded in 1997.

From 2000 and onwards

In 2000 WestJet expanded to Canada's eastern region, choosing Hamilton as the airline's eastern region hub,[7] and flying to destinations from Newfoundland and Labrador to British Columbia. Continental Airlines also offered service to Cleveland in 2000 but stopped in the same year. In April 2004, seeking to compete with Air Canada for business travellers, WestJet moved its eastern hub from Hamilton to Toronto Pearson International Airport in Mississauga. While Hamilton retained flights to many destinations, all of the service between Hamilton and Montreal and Ottawa was moved to Toronto. In the wake of the WestJet pullout, CanJet began service to Hamilton in 2003. Then in the spring of 2005, two weeks after Air Canada Jazz announced it would enter the local market with service from Hamilton to Montreal and Ottawa, CanJet announced a complete withdrawal from Hamilton. Air Canada Jazz flights to Montreal and Ottawa stopped by 2008. From 2007 to 2009, flyglobespan offered seasonal service to Britain and Ireland, including Liverpool, Manchester and Doncaster. In 2010, WestJet cut two-third of the flights out of Hamilton. The only remaining service by WestJet was one daily service to Calgary.[7] In 2015, Air Canada Rouge planned to begin daily service to Calgary by June 2015 but the launch was delayed until 2016. There were no flights to Calgary by Air Canada Rouge as of November 2016. Canada Jetlines also announced plans to fly to Hamilton Airport. NewLeaf began service to several destinations in 2016. This was followed by Air Canada's announcement that it would resume daily flights to Montreal on May 24, 2016.

Hamilton turned over operation of the airport to TradePort International Corp. in 1996. In 2007 YVR Airport Services, which runs the Vancouver International Airport, took over 100 per cent ownership of TradePort in a $13-million deal. In late 2007, Trade Port Co. and Citi Corp. bought land from the city of Hamilton to expand runway 06/24 to 9,000 ft (2,743 m). This is expected to happen sometime between 2015 and 2019.[8] Citing high fuel prices, Air Canada Jazz withdrew its service from Hamilton airport on July 31, 2008.[9]

The Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA) has pushed for the construction of the Pickering Airport to relieve Toronto Pearson International Airport, claiming that Hamilton is too far from the city of Toronto core to be practical as a major hub for travellers. Critics point out that the reliever airports for Boston, Massachusetts (T.F. Green State Airport in Providence, Rhode Island and Manchester-Boston Regional Airport in Manchester, New Hampshire) are used effectively despite being further from the Boston city centre than Munro Airport is from the Toronto city centre. Should the GTAA decide not to build the proposed Pickering Airport, which could prove controversial due to the required expropriation of land, Hamilton may have an increase in passenger traffic and possibly new airlines.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

AirlinesDestinations
Air Canada Express Montréal–Trudeau
Air Transat Seasonal: Cancún, Cayo Coco, Puerto Plata, Punta Cana, Varadero
Canadian North Charter: Fort McMurray, Halifax, Miami, Saskatoon
Flair Airlines Abbotsford, Edmonton, Halifax, Winnipeg
Sunwing Airlines Seasonal: Punta Cana,[10] Varadero
WestJet Calgary, Edmonton, Halifax, Winnipeg
Seasonal: Cancún, Orlando, Vancouver

Cargo

AirlinesDestinations
DHL Aviation
operated by Atlas Air 		Cincinnati
DHL Express
operated by Castle Aviation 		Cincinnati
Cargojet Airways Brussels, Calgary, Cologne/Bonn, Edmonton, Halifax, Moncton, Montréal–Mirabel, Ottawa, St. John's, Vancouver, Winnipeg
Purolator Courier
operated by Castle Aviation 		Akron, Cincinnati, Columbus–Rickenbacker, Montréal–Mirabel
SkyLink Express Kingston, Louisville, Muskoka, New York–JFK, North Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury, Windsor
UPS Airlines Louisville
LOT Cargo Warsaw

Educational Institutions

Mohawk college aviation campus

The aviation programs of Mohawk college has facilities at the CYHM Airport. As of 2017 the learning facilities include an electricity lab, a hangar, airport apron and two classrooms.

Golden Horseshoe Aviation

Golden Horseshoe Aviation (GHA) is a flight school based at the Jetport facilities in CYHM Airport. [11]

Ground transportation

Out of town shuttle service is available for passengers wishing to connect to flights at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Toronto. Daily Shuttle Service from Toronto's Union Station, Billy Bishop Airport, and Toronto Pearson International Airport is offered by King Shuttle. Hamilton Street Railway's bus route 20 "A-Line Express" operates on weekdays with half-hourly service to downtown Hamilton between 5 am - 10 am and 3 pm - 7 pm, and to Mountain Transit Centre with connecting service to downtown between 1 - 3 pm.[12]

Accidents and incidents

See also

List of airports in the Greater Toronto Area

References

  1. 1 2 3 Canada Flight Supplement. Effective 0901Z 27 April 2017 to 0901Z 22 June 2017
  2. ↑ Synoptic/Metstat Station Information Archived 2013-06-28 at the Wayback Machine.
  3. ↑ Total aircraft movements by class of operation — NAV CANADA towers
  4. ↑ Airport Traffic Reports Archived 2008-02-08 at the Wayback Machine.
  5. ↑ Globespan flights to Hamilton
  6. ↑ http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=216c1806-b068-40f9-8a21-6f2779adb662
  7. 1 2 3 4 Arnold, Steve (2016-02-04). "Air Canada to launch Hamilton-Montreal service in May". Hamilton Spectator.
  8. ↑ Hamilton International 2004 Airport Master Plan Update Archived 2011-07-16 at the Wayback Machine.
  9. ↑ globeandmail.com: Business
  10. ↑ http://www.sunwing.ca/Vacations-from-Hamilton.asp?optGateway=YHM
  11. ↑ "Golden Horseshoe Aviation". Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  12. ↑ "PDF Bus Schedules". www.hamilton.ca. Retrieved 2017-08-06.
  13. ↑ "Hamilton’s airfield of dreams: an airport turns 75". The Hamilton Spectator. 2015-10-15. Retrieved 2016-01-27.

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