Thunder Bay Airport (IATA: YQT, ICAO: CYQT) is in the city of Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. With 108,130 aircraft movements in 2012, it was the fourth busiest airport in Ontario and the 16th busiest airport in Canada.[4] During the same year, more than 761,000 passengers went through the airport.[5]
The reference of "International" in the name of the Thunder Bay International Airport Authority Inc. (TBIAAI) is used for business purposes only. The TBIAAI has not sought to receive official Canadian designation as "International", in accordance with all applicable domestic and international requirements as defined by ICAO Annex 9.
History
It was built as the Fort William Municipal Airport in 1938, partly as a means of relieving unemployment.[6]
During World War II, the Thunder Bay (then Fort William) airport was home to No. 2 Elementary Flying Training School, part of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. The airport was also used as a base for test flights of fighter aircraft being built at the nearby Canadian Car and Foundry factory.
Before the two cities of Fort William and Port Arthur merged, it was called the Canadian Lakehead Airport.
The airport went under major renovations in 1994 with the construction of a new airport terminal building, including two jetways, a large food court, a gift shop and an arcade.
The airport was handed over from the government in 1997 to the Thunder Bay International Airports Authority, a non-profit organization. The airport handled over 600,000 passengers in 2006 for the first time since 2001.[7]
The airport underwent a runway rehabilitation and upgrade in 2022, this was "the largest construction project undertaken in the history of the Airport Authority"[8]
Historical aerodrome information
In approximately 1942 the aerodrome was listed as RCAF & D of T Aerodrome - Fort William, Ontario at 48°22′N89°19′W / 48.367°N 89.317°W / 48.367; -89.317 with a variation of 01 degrees east and elevation of 645 ft (197 m). Three runways were listed as follows:[9]
Runway name
Length
Width
Surface
14/32
4,000 ft (1,200 m)
500 ft (150 m)
Turf
9/27
3,990 ft (1,220 m)
500 ft (150 m)
Turf
4/22
4,000 ft (1,200 m)
500 ft (150 m)
Turf
Historical airline jet service
A number of airlines served the airport with scheduled passenger jet service in the past from the late 1960s to the early 2000s. These air carriers along with the respective jetliner types they operated from the airfield are as follows:
According to various Official Airline Guide (OAG) editions as well as airline timetables, the majority of jet service operated by Canadian-based air carriers was nonstop or direct to Toronto and Winnipeg. U.S.-based North Central Airlines operated nonstop flights to Duluth with continuing no change of plane jet service to Chicago–O'Hare while successor Republic Airlines also flew nonstop to Duluth with continuing no change of plane jet service to Minneapolis/St. Paul and then on to Denver.[16][18]
Destinations from Thunder Bay Airport Red = Year-round destination Green = Seasonal destination Blue = Future destination
Statistics
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. Updates on reimplementing the Graph extension, which will be known as the Chart extension, can be found on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.
Annual passenger traffic at YQT airport.
See Wikidata query.
The parking lot contains 100 short-term spaces, 300 long-term spaces, curbside taxi service and courtesy cars.
Thunder Bay Transit bus route 14 Arthur serves the airport terminal and the nearby Aviation Centre of Excellence. On peak hours, this airport is served every 30 minutes, and 45 minutes outside peak hours. This route connects the airport to Arthur Street and City Hall Terminal.
Infrastructure
The Thunder Bay International Airport has a three-storey terminal building. Since the closure of Sears at Intercity Shopping Centre in 2018, this terminal is the only facility in Thunder Bay which uses escalators.
The airport also has two fixed-base operators: Innotech Aviation Services for Shell Aviation, and Thunder Bay Flight Refuelling for World Fuel Services.
Incidents and accidents
On 6 April 2009, Yavuz Berke, a 31-year-old Turkish-born Canadian student at the Aviation Centre of Excellence at Confederation College, stole its Cessna 172 at Thunder Bay airport and went for a joy ride. He crossed into US airspace where he was intercepted by two US Air Force F-16 fighter jets. He later landed on US Highway 60.[22]
