Gander International Airport
Categories: Airports of Newfoundland and Labrador
| Gander International Airport | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| IATA: YQX - ICAO: CYQX | |||
| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Public | ||
| Operator | Gander International Airport Authority | ||
| Serves | Gander, Newfoundland | ||
| Elevation AMSL | 496 ft (151 m) | ||
| Coordinates | 48° 56' 13" N
54° 34' 05" W | ||
| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| ft | m | ||
| 03/21 | 10,200 | 3,109 | Asphalt |
| 13/31 | 8,900 | 2,712 | Asphalt |
| 09/27 | 1,875 | 571 | Asphalt |
Gander International Airport is located in Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. It is currently run by the Gander Airport Authority, and its IATA airport code is YQX.
Contents |
History
Construction of the airport began in 1936 and it was opened in 1938, with its first landing on January 11 of that year, by Captain Douglas Fraser flying a Fox Moth of Imperial Airways. Within a few years it had four runways and was the largest airport in the world.
Gander was a major airport during the Second World War due to the heavy transit traffic across the North Atlantic to the United Kingdom. Almost all the planes destined for the European front travelled through Gander. Its importance was largely a matter of geography, as Gander lies almost precisely on the great circle route between the major cities of the U.S. East Coast and London and was sufficiently close to Europe to allow the piston-engined planes of that day to make a non-refueled transatlantic crossing from there.
After the war, as transatlantic traffic increased, Gander retained its prominence due to the need for a refueling point. Airlines such as Trans-Canada Airways (later Air Canada), British Overseas Airways Corporation (later British Airways), and Pan American World Airways made Gander their main refueling point.
With the advent of jet aircraft with extended ranges in the late 1960s, the need for a refueling point ceased on most flights. Gander has steadily decreased in importance since then, but it remains the home of Gander Control, which with Shanwick Oceanic Control, control the high level airways of the North Atlantic. Thus every plane travelling to and from Europe or North America must talk to either or both of these ATCs.
During the Cold War Gander was also notable for the number of persons from the former Warsaw Pact nations who defected there. It was one of the few refueling points where airplanes could stop en route from eastern Europe or the Soviet Union to Cuba.
On December 12, 1985 Arrow Air Flight 1285 crashed on take-off from runway 21. The disaster claimed the lives of 8 crew and 248 soldiers from the U.S. Army's 101 Airborne Division who were returning home for Christmas from a peacekeeping deployment in the Middle East. The impact on the south side of the Trans-Canada Highway on the shore of Gander Lake left a charred clearing in the forest where a memorial now stands to those who lost their lives in Canada's most deadly air crash.
On September 11, 2001, with United States airspace closed due to the terrorist attacks, Gander International played host to 39 airliners, totaling 6,122 passengers and 473 crew as part of Operation Yellow Ribbon. Gander International received more flights than any other Canadian airport involved in the operation other than Halifax (The airport that received the highest number of passengers was Vancouver). The reception these travellers received has been one of the most widely reported happy stories surrounding that day. Much of this was because Transport Canada and NAV CANADA instructed pilots coming from Europe to avoid the major airports in Central Canada, like Lester B. Pearson in Toronto and Montréal-Dorval.
The airport was the site for Canada's memorial service to mark the first anniversary of the attack, which Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, Transport Minister David Collenette, U.S. Ambassador to Canada Paul Cellucci, and provincial and local officials presided over and 2,500 people who were among the 6,600 that were diverted there the year before attended.
Runways
Currently, Gander has two active runways: runway 13-31 of 8,900 x 200 feet (2,712 x 61 m), and runway 04-22 which measures 10,200 x 200 feet (3,109 x 61 m). Runway 09-27 at 1875 x 50 feet (571 x 15 m) is for daytime, VFR use only and is closed from 01 December until 30 June.
Competition for Trans-Atlantic Flights
Gander competes with Bangor International Airport, located in Bangor, Maine for Trans-Atlantic flights. Although Gander has a slight edge over Bangor in the number of daily Trans-Atlantic flights, Bangor has become more and more active with Trans-Atlantic flights. This is due to the Iraq war with troops going to and coming home from Iraq. A common visitor to Gander is Evergreen International Airlines.
Canadian Forces Base 9 Wing Gander
Located on Gander Interantional Airport is Canadian Forces Base 9 Wing Gander, the principal military establishment in Newfoundland. Among its many roles, 9 Wing Gander is responsible for providing search and rescue services throughout Newfoundland and Labrador, northeastern Quebec, the Maritimes, the lower Arctic and offshore waters of these regions. Crews of 103 Search and Rescue Squadron are on 24-hour standby, ready to answer the call in one of the busiest search and rescue regions in Canada.
103 Squadron also offers transient Aircraft servicing to visiting Canadian Forces and allied aircraft as requested.
9 Wing includes 9 Air Reserve Augmentation Flight. It augments and support the operations, administrative and technical functions of the base. Its Airfield Engineers Flight provides trained engineer reservists from various trades to support UN and Canadian Forces deployments worldwide.
9 Wing is also host to Lietrim Detachment which operates and maintains signals intelligence. 9 Wing Telecommunications provides all military units at Gander with message transmission and reception services.
In addition, 9 Wing operates and maintains a Canadian Coastal Radar on behalf of Fighter Group Canadian NORAD Region Headquarters.