Thunder Bay Airport is an

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...

in the city of

Thunder Bay Thunder Bay is a city in and the seat of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario and the second most populous (after Greater Sudbury) municipality in Northern Ontario; its population i ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, Canada. With 108,130 aircraft movements in 2012, it was the fourth busiest airport in Ontario and the 16th busiest airport in Canada. During the same year, more than 761,000 passengers went through the airport. The airport is classified as an

airport of entry In general, a port of entry (POE) is a place where one may lawfully enter a country. It typically has border security staff and facilities to check passports and visas and to inspect luggage to assure that contraband is not imported. Internat ...

Nav Canada Nav Canada (styled as NAV CANADA) is a privately run, not-for-profit corporation that owns and operates Canada's civil air navigation system (ANS). It was established in accordance with the ''Civil Air Navigation Services Commercialization Act ...

and is staffed by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). CBSA officers at this airport can handle aircraft with up to 40 passengers. The reference of "International" in the name of the Thunder Bay International Airport 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.* Tronrud, Thorold J; Epp, Ernest A.; and others. (1995).
Thunder Bay: From Rivalry to Unity
''.

Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society The Thunder Bay Museum is located in Thunder Bay, Ontario. It is operated by the Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society, incorporated in 1972 as the successor to the Thunder Bay Historical Society. The Museum is affiliated with the Canadian Museums ...

, pp96. . During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, 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 Canadian Car and Foundry (CC&F), also variously known as "Canadian Car & Foundry" or more familiarly as "Can Car", was a manufacturer of buses, railway rolling stock, forestry equipment, and later aircraft for the Canadian market. CC&F history ...

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 An airport terminal is a building at an airport where passengers transfer between ground transportation and the facilities that allow them to board and disembark from an aircraft. Within the terminal, passengers purchase tickets, transfer t ...

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.

Historical aerodrome information

In approximately 1942 the aerodrome was listed as RCAF & D of T Aerodrome - Fort William, Ontario at with a variation of 01 degrees east and elevation of . Three runways were listed as follows:

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: *

Air Canada Air Canada is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Canada by the size and passengers carried. Air Canada maintains its headquarters in the borough of Saint-Laurent, Montreal, Quebec. The airline, founded in 1937, provides scheduled an ...

(mainline service):

Airbus A319 The Airbus A319 is a member of the Airbus A320 family of short- to medium-range, narrow-body, commercial passenger twin-engine jet airliners manufactured by Airbus. The A319 carries 124 to 156 passengers and has a maximum range of . Final assem ...

Boeing 727-200 The Boeing 727 is an American narrow-body airliner that was developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After the heavy 707 quad-jet was introduced in 1958, Boeing addressed the demand for shorter flight lengths from smaller airpo ...

, McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 *

Air Ontario Air Ontario Inc. was a regional Canadian airline headquartered in Sarnia then London, Ontario. In 2002, Air Ontario became Air Canada Jazz. History Great Lakes Airlines was formed in 1958, becoming Air Ontario Ltd. in 1983 and Air Ontario Inc ...

Fokker F28 The Fokker F28 Fellowship is a twin-engined, short-range jet airliner designed and built by Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker. Following the Fokker F27 Friendship, an early and commercially successful turboprop-powered regional airliner, Fokk ...

Canadian Airlines International Canadian Airlines International Ltd. (stylized as Canadi›n Airlines or Canadi‹n Airlines, or simply Canadian) was a Canadian airline that operated from 1987 until 2001. The airline was Canada's second largest airline after Air Canada, carr ...

Boeing 737-200 The Boeing 737 is a narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Renton Factory in Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retains the 707 fuselage width and six abreast seating with two u ...

Canadian Regional Airlines Canadian Regional Airlines was an airline headquartered in Calgary International Airport in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It is now part of Air Canada Jazz. Former code data * IATA code: KI * ICAO code: CDR *Callsign: Canadian Regional Histor ...

* CanJet:

* Jetsgo:

Fokker 100 The Fokker 100 is a regional jet produced by Fokker in the Netherlands. The Fokker 100 is based on the Fokker F28 with a fuselage stretched by to seat up to 109 passengers, up from 85. It is powered by two newer Rolls-Royce Tay turbofans, ...

, McDonnell Douglas MD-80 *

Nordair Nordair was a Quebec-based airline in Canada founded in 1947 from the merger of Boreal Airways and Mont Laurier Aviation. History The airline operated from the 1940s to the 1980s. Initially, most of its business was international and transatla ...

North Central Airlines North Central Airlines was a regional airline in the Midwestern United States. Founded as Wisconsin Central Airlines in 1944 in Clintonville, Wisconsin, the company moved to Madison in 1947. This is also when the "Herman the duck" logo was bo ...

: McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 *

Pacific Western Airlines Pacific Western Airlines Ltd (PWA) was an airline that operated scheduled flights throughout western Canada and charter services around the world from the 1950s through the 1980s. It was headquartered at Vancouver International Airport in Ri ...

Republic Airlines (1979-1986) Republic Airlines was an American airline formed by the merger of North Central Airlines and Southern Airways on July 1, 1979. Their headquarters were at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, in what is now Fort Snelling in unincorporate ...

: McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 *

Transair (Canada) Transair was an airline based in Canada. It was purchased by Pacific Western Airlines in 1979. Transair's operational headquarters was located at the Winnipeg International Airport in Manitoba. History Transair had its origins as Central N ...

Vistajet VistaJet is a global business aviation company founded in 2004 by Thomas Flohr. The firm flies between any two points, under a "pay for hours flown" fare structure. Its fleet consists of 73 privately-owned, mid-to-large-cabin, ultra-long-range ...

According to various

Official Airline Guide OAG is a global travel data provider with headquarters in the UK. The company was founded in 1929 and operates in the USA, Singapore, Japan, Lithuania and China. It has a large network of flight information data including schedules, flight st ...

(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

operated nonstop flights to

Duluth , settlement_type = City , nicknames = Twin Ports (with Superior), Zenith City , motto = , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top: urban Duluth skyline; Minnesota ...

with continuing no change of plane jet service to Chicago–O'Hare while successor

Republic Airlines Republic Airlines was an American airline formed by the merger of North Central Airlines and Southern Airways on July 1, 1979. Their headquarters were at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, in what is now Fort Snelling, Minnesota, Fort ...

also flew nonstop to Duluth with continuing no change of plane jet service to Minneapolis/St. Paul and then on to Denver. During the mid-1980s, three airlines were competing with nonstop service operated with mainline jet aircraft between Thunder Bay and Toronto:

with

and McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 aircraft,

with

aircraft and

with

aircraft.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Cargo

Charter

Statistics

Airside tenants

Confederation College Confederation College is a provincially funded college of applied arts and technology in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. It was established in 1967, and has campuses in Dryden, Fort Frances, Greenstone, Kenora, Marathon, Sioux Lookout, Red Lake a ...

School of Aviation –

Aviation Centre of Excellence The Aviation Centre of Excellence, or ACE, is the aviation department facility for Confederation College The building consists of two hangars, classrooms, shops, labs, and offices for the three aviation programs available at the School of Aviati ...

Hydro One Hydro One Limited is an electricity transmission and distribution utility serving the Canadian province of Ontario. Hydro One traces its history to the early 20th century and the establishment of the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario ( ...

- aviation hangar * Innotech Aviation - Shell Aviation FBO * Levaero Aviation - authorized Pilatus dealer * Maintair Aviation Services - ground handling servicesMaintair Aviation Services
/ref> *

Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry The Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry is a government ministry of the Canadian province of Ontario that is responsible for Ontario's provincial parks, forests, fisheries, wildlife, mineral aggregates and the Crown lands ...

Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services - seasonal firefighting aircraft base *

Ornge Ornge (formerly Ontario Air Ambulance Corporation and Ontario Air Ambulance Service) is a Canadian not-for-profit corporation and registered charity that provides air ambulance and associated ground transportation services for the province of ...

Air Ambulance - hangar and regional base * Thunder Bay Flight Refuelling -

World Fuel Services World Fuel Services Corporation (WFS, World Fuel) is an energy, commodities, and services company based in Doral, Florida. The company ranked No. 91 in the 2018 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations. WFS focuses on the mark ...

FBO * Wisk Air Helicopters

Groundside Tenants

Aramark Aramark Corporation, known commonly as Aramark, is an American food service, facilities, and uniform services provider to clients in areas including education, healthcare, business, prisons, and leisure. It operates in North America (United S ...

- groundside food services and bar, aircraft catering) *

Avis Avis is Latin for bird and may refer to: Aviation *Auster Avis, a 1940s four-seat light aircraft developed from the Auster Autocrat (abandoned project) *Avro Avis, a two-seat biplane *Scottish Aeroplane Syndicate Avis, an early aircraft built by ...

/ Budget * Driving Force *

Enterprise Enterprise (or the archaic spelling Enterprize) may refer to: Business and economics Brands and enterprises * Enterprise GP Holdings, an energy holding company * Enterprise plc, a UK civil engineering and maintenance company * Enterpris ...

* FedEx *

National National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

* Passages Gift Shop - featuring local gifts and items * Pine Tree Catering - Nomad Cafe (airside food services)

Parking and transportation

Vehicles can reach the airport via Ontario Highway 61 and connections with Harbour Expressway and Ontario Highway 11 into Thunder Bay's core. The parking lot contains 100 short-term spaces, 300 long-term spaces, curbside taxi service and courtesy cars.

Thunder Bay Transit Thunder Bay Transit is the public transit operator in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. It was formed in 1970, after the amalgamation (politics), amalgamation of the cities of Port Arthur, Ontario, Port Arthur and Fort William, Ontario, Fort William ...

bus route 14 Arthur serves the airport terminal and the nearby

Infrastructure

The Thunder Bay International Airport has a three-storey terminal building. Thunder Bay's runways are primarily used by small or larger turboprop and regional jet aircraft such as the Bombardier Q400 propjet and the

CRJ900 The Bombardier CRJ700, CRJ900, and CRJ1000 are a family of regional jet airliners that were designed and manufactured by Canadian transportation conglomerate Bombardier (formerly Canadair) between 1999 and 2020. Their design was derived from ...

regional jet; however, they are capable of accommodating narrow-body jetliners such as current generation

Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is a narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Boeing Renton Factory, Renton Factory in Washington (state), Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retains the Boeing 707, 7 ...

aircraft operated Flair Airlines and on charter or occasional services operated by

Air Transat Air Transat is a Canadian airline based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1986, it is the country's third-largest airline behind Air Canada and WestJet, operating scheduled and charter flights serving 60 destinations in 25 countries. Air Transa ...

Sunwing Airlines Sunwing Airlines Inc. is a Canadian low-cost airline headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. Sunwing Airlines offers scheduled and charter services from Canada and the United States to destinations within the United States, Mexico, the Caribbean, ...

and

WestJet WestJet Airlines Ltd. is a Canadian airline headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, near Calgary International Airport. It is the second-largest Canadian airline, behind Air Canada, operating an average of 777 flights and carrying more than 66,130 ...

. Historically, the airport routinely handled

and McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 mainline jet aircraft as well as the smaller

Fokker F28 Fellowship The Fokker F28 Fellowship is a twin-engined, short-range jet airliner designed and built by Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker. Following the Fokker F27 Friendship, an early and commercially successful turboprop-powered regional airliner, Fokk ...

twin jet in the past. Other larger jet aircraft types have also landed at the airport in the past with examples including a

Boeing 720 The Boeing 720 is an American narrow-body airliner produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Announced in July 1957 as a 707 derivative for shorter flights from shorter runways, the 720 first flew on November 23, 1959. Its type certificate was ...

operated by

American Airlines American Airlines is a major airlines of the United States, major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the world when measured ...

in 1962, Boeing 757-200 and wide body

Airbus A310 The Airbus A310 is a wide-body aircraft, designed and manufactured by Airbus Industrie, then a consortium of European aerospace manufacturers. Airbus had identified a demand for an aircraft smaller than the A300, the first twin-jet wide-bod ...

aircraft operated by Royal Aviation subsidiary Royal Airlines in 1999 and 2000, and a wide body

Boeing 747SP The Boeing 747SP (for ''Special Performance'') is a shortened version of the Boeing 747 wide-body airliner, designed for a longer range. Boeing needed a smaller aircraft to compete with the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 and Lockheed L-1011 TriStar ...

operated as the "Global Peace Ambassadors" aircraft for Christian preacher

K.A. Paul Kilari Anand Paul (born September 25, 1963) is an Indian Christian evangelist and humanitarian. He is the founder of the US-based organizations Global Peace Initiative (GPI) and Gospel to the Unreached Millions (GUM) and has operated orphanages, ...

in 2005. The largest aircraft to land in Thunder Bay is the

Antonov AN-124 The Antonov An-124 Ruslan (; russian: Антонов Ан-124 Руслан, , Ruslan; NATO reporting name: Condor) is a large, strategic airlift, four-engined aircraft that was designed in the 1980s by the Antonov design bureau in the Ukrain ...

which made four cargo trips direct from Austria between August 2017 and April 2018 with rail car parts for Bombardier. The airport also has two fixed-base operators: Innotech Aviation Services for Shell Aviation, and Thunder Bay Flight Refuelling for World Fuel Services.

References

External links

*
Thunder Bay Flight Information
{{authority control Certified airports in Ontario

Airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...

National Airports System Royal Canadian Air Force stations Military airbases in Ontario Airports of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan Military history of Ontario

History

Historical aerodrome information

Historical airline jet service

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Cargo

Charter

Statistics

Airside tenants

Groundside Tenants

Parking and transportation

Infrastructure

See also

References

External links