Fort Nelson Airport Sets All Time Traffic Record; Busiest Small Airport in Canada

FORT NELSON – This August, the Northern Rockies Regional Airport (YYE) was the busiest small (Tier 2) airport in Canada, with more aircraft movements then were experienced in much larger centres.
YYE services the Northern Rockies Regional Municipality (with a population of less than 6,000 people) and the Horn, Liard and Cordova Shale Gas developments. Even with the extremely low natural gas prices, YYE recorded its busiest season ever with 4,053 movements in July and 3,875 movements in August. According to aircraft movement statistics recorded by NAV Canada, YYE had more air traffic than any other Tier 2 airport (airports with flight service stations) including Fort St. John, Grande Prairie, Prince George, and even Ottawa, Ontario. YYE also tallied more itinerant movements, composed mostly of scheduled and charter aircraft, (flights from one airport to another) than 13 of 42 Tier 1 airports (airports with air traffic control such as Abbotsford, Whitehorse and Hamilton International Airports), ranking it as the 29th busiest airport in Canada.
The airport has seen a dramatic climb in traffic in the past decade: an increase of 59 per cent in the last six years alone.
Upgrading and expansion is now crucial to bring YYE’s aging infrastructure to a level at which current activity can be sustained. Both the terminal and aprons often operate beyond their designed capacity during peak times.
“The latest statistics support the case the Regional Municipality has been making to senior governments for some time now about the need for additional infrastructure investment to keep the airport in-line with activity”, said Mayor Bill Streeper, “Without our airport, the natural gas industry in the Northern Rockies, the main employer in our region and significant contributor to government revenues, would be greatly reduced.”
Much of YYE infrastructure was built in the 1940s and is in need of significant modernization to allow the airport to continue to fulfill its crucial roles of serving the region’s community and industry. YYE’s capital needs are, at a minimum, $51 million dollars; $32.9 million of which are projected as immediate capital needs. Despite these challenges, the continued growth in aircraft traffic and its resiliency through the global recession and slower natural gas market clearly reflects the many economic opportunities for the community and airport related businesses. The Northern Rockies Regional Airport offers a vital and integral service to the residents and economy of the Northern Rockies Regional Municipality. Accommodating the growth in traffic at YYE is a key focus of the development strategy for the airport, as plans are made to expand the current terminal in a phased approach, upgrade airfield electrical capacity, and expand and repair World War II infrastructure.

Some points of note about the Northern Rockies Regional Airport and its air traffic:
• The Northern Rockies Regional Airport (YYE) was established in 1941 as part of the USAAF Northwest Staging Route used for ferrying and refuelling approximately 8,000 aircraft en route towards Russia during WWII.
• YYE operates with sixteen tenants ranging from fixed and rotary aircraft operations to scheduled and charter passenger services. The BC Forest Service Wildlife Management Branch also maintains a seasonal fire center operation at the airport.
• The Municipality took over the operation of the airport from the Federal Government in 1999.
• YYE broke its air traffic record July 24th when a total of 355 aircraft took off and landed at the transportation hub of the Horn River Basin during the end of the busiest month ever on record, according to Stats Canada TP 141 (Aircraft Movement Statistics: NAV CANADA Towers and Flight Service Stations).
A total of 4,053 aircraft landed and took off during the month of July, beating the previous record of 2,732 in August 2011 by a whopping 1,321 total movements and moving the YYE into fifth place among all Tier 2 Airports in Canada (Airports with Flight Service Stations).
• In August 2012 there was a total of 3,875 total movements, of which 3,715 were itinerant movements (flights from one airport to another). That number placed the YYE first nationally among all Tier 2 Airports
• YYE also tallied more itinerant movements than 13 of 42 Tier 1 airports (airports with Air Traffic Control such), ranking it as the 29th busiest airport in Canada.
• In the first two thirds of 2012, scheduled passenger traffic registered a yearly 1.2% increase, reaching 21,563, while aircraft movements grew by 19.7% to 19,217. Combining Scheduled and Charter passenger traffic, the YYE is forecasting that over 100,000 passengers will move through its facilities by the end of 2012.

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