Abbotsford International Airport is located in

Abbotsford, British Columbia Abbotsford is a city in British Columbia next to the Canada–United States border, Greater Vancouver, and the Fraser River. With a census population of 153,569 people (2021), it is the most populous municipality in the province outside metropol ...

, Canada, southwest of the city centre. It is the second largest airport in the

Lower Mainland The Lower Mainland is a geographic and cultural region of the mainland coast of British Columbia that generally comprises the regional districts of Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. Home to approximately 3.05million people as of the 2021 ...

region of British Columbia, after

Vancouver International Airport Vancouver International Airport is an international airport located on Sea Island (British Columbia), Sea Island in Richmond, British Columbia, Richmond, British Columbia, serving the city of Vancouver and the Lower Mainland region. It is lo ...

(YVR), and is in close proximity to

British Columbia Highway 1 Highway 1 is a provincial highway in British Columbia, Canada, that carries the main route of the Trans-Canada Highway (TCH). The highway is long and connects Vancouver Island, the Greater Vancouver region in the Lower Mainland, and the Inter ...

, and the US border. It is located about from downtown

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

. YXX offers daily domestic scheduled services and seasonal international scheduled services. The airport is equipped with a CAT 1 instrument landing system, on-site aircraft rescue and firefighting, and a fully serviced air terminal building with customs and passenger screening. It 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. Internatio ...

Nav Canada Nav Canada (styled as NAV CANADA) is a privately run, non-profit corporation that owns and operates Canada's civil air navigation system (ANS). It was established by statute in accordance with the ''Civil Air Navigation Services Commercializati ...

and is staffed by the

Canada Border Services Agency The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA; , ''ASFC'') is a federal law enforcement agency that is responsible for border guard, border control (i.e. protection and surveillance), immigration enforcement, and Customs, customs services in Canada. ...

(CBSA) for all scheduled international arrivals. CBSA also provides clearance services to all

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations except for commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services for other ...

aircraft with no more than 15 passengers. Abbotsford Airport has a longstanding general aviation community and an established

aerospace Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial, and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and astron ...

community, including

Cascade Aerospace Cascade Aerospace Inc. of Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada, is a specialty aerospace and defence contractor, focused on providing long-term integrated aircraft support programs for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), military, governm ...

, the Conair Group, and the

University of the Fraser Valley The University of the Fraser Valley (UFV), formerly known as University College of the Fraser Valley and Fraser Valley College, is a public university with campuses in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Mission, British Columbi ...

Aerospace Centre. Abbotsford Airport is also home to the Abbotsford Shell Aerocentre FBO and flying schools, such as Coastal Pacific Aviation, Principal Air and Chinook Helicopters. YXX is highly visible to the public due to the

Abbotsford International Airshow The Abbotsford International Airshow is held annually on the second Friday, Saturday and Sunday in August at Abbotsford International Airport in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada. It is Canada's largest airshow. In the mid-1970s, Abbotsford ...

, Defense & Security Expo, and Tradex events centre. The facility covers 519

hectares The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), that is, square metres (), and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. A ...

(1,282 acres, 2.0 square miles) of airport property. There are approximately of land immediately available for airside and landside development. In 2023, 1,275,484 passengers passed through Abbotsford International Airport. In 2018, the airport announced it will undergo a $5 million, 14,000-square-foot expansion to add new gates and additional passenger seating capacity.

History

World War II (1940–1945)

The Royal Canadian Air Force purchased the land to build Abbotsford Airport in 1940. In 1943 the construction of the three runways based on a triangular layout was complete. The same year, under the

British Commonwealth Air Training Plan The British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP), often referred to as simply "The Plan", was a large-scale multinational military aircrew training program created by the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand during the Second Wo ...

, the No. 24 Elementary Flying Training School started operations from this location until 1944. The No 5 Operational Conversion Unit was split between Abbotsford and

Boundary Bay Airport Boundary Bay Airport or Vancouver/Boundary Bay Airport is located beside Boundary Bay and east of Ladner, British Columbia, Ladner in Delta, British Columbia, Delta, British Columbia, Canada, south southeast of Vancouver and close to the Poin ...

Aerodrome information

In approximately 1942, the aerodrome was listed at with a Var. 23.5 degrees E and no listed elevation. The aerodrome was listed as "Under construction - Servicable" and had three runways as follows:

Post war (1945–1997)

Following

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the airport was largely used for

and as a secondary field to

. Prior to the use of instrument landing systems, fog could make Vancouver Airport unusable and flights had to land at Abbotsford. If a big earthquake floods or otherwise damages low-lying Vancouver Airport on Sea Island in

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

, then as many flights as possible will likely be looking to land at Abbotsford Airport. The airport became the home to

Skyways Air Services Skyways may refer to: *Skyway, walk bridge *Skyways (British airline), defunct British airline also known as Skyways Limited *Skyways (Swedish airline) Skyways Express AB was a Swedish airline that operated regional and domestic scheduled servic ...

and Conair Aviation in the 1960s. Abbotsford is still the primary base for Conair's fleet of water bombers. In September 1984,

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

held an open-air mass for over 200,000 people at the airport.

Current (1997–present)

On January 1, 1997, the ownership of the Abbotsford Airport was transferred from the Department of Transport to the City of Abbotsford for a sum of $10. In June of that year, Abbotsford became a jet passenger airport in with the start of scheduled service to Alberta by

WestJet WestJet Airlines, is a Canadian airline headquartered in Calgary, Alberta. Founded in 1994, it is the second-largest airline in Canada and the eighth-largest airline in North America by frequency. It began operations in 1996 with 220 employee ...

. Prior, Airspeed Aviation had been the exclusive operator offering regional service to Victoria, B.C. since 1986.

Canada 3000 Canada 3000 Airlines Inc. was a Canadian discount charter airline offering domestic and international flights. It was the largest charter airline in the world at the time of its operation, with over 90 destinations worldwide, although it changed ...

was the first airline to offer transcontinental service from Abbotsford to Toronto in June 2000. Abbotsford's first international charter flight was to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, in December 2003 by tour operator Transat Holidays. Since 2000, many airlines and tour operators have come and gone from Abbotsford, including

Air Canada Air Canada is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Canada, by size and passengers carried. Air Canada is headquartered in the borough of Saint-Laurent in the city of Montreal. The airline, founded in 1937, provides scheduled and cha ...

Air Canada Tango Air Canada Tango was a low-cost subsidiary branch of Air Canada, which was established in 2001 to offer no-frills service on some of Air Canada's routes and to reduce operating costs at the struggling main company. Based in Toronto, Tango opera ...

Air Canada Jazz An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosphere ...

Air North Air North Charter and Training Ltd., operating as , is a Canadian airline based in Whitehorse, Yukon. It operates scheduled passenger and cargo flights throughout Yukon, as well as between Yukon and the Northwest Territories, British Columbia, ...

Central Mountain Air Central Mountain Air Ltd. is a Canadian regional airline based in Smithers, British Columbia, Smithers, British Columbia. It operates scheduled, charter, and transborder services. Its main base is Smithers Airport, with other bases at Calgary I ...

, Helijet,

Jetsgo Jetsgo Corporation was a short-lived Canadian low-cost airline based in the Saint-Laurent, Quebec, Saint-Laurent Borough#Canada, borough of Montreal. Jetsgo served 19 destinations across Canada, 10 destinations in the United States, and 12 sche ...

, Signature Vacations,

Zoom Airlines Zoom Airlines Inc. was a Canadian low-fare scheduled transatlantic airline with its headquarters in the Place Bell Canada building in Ottawa, Ontario. Zoom operated year-round scheduled services to Europe, and charter services to South America, ...

Harmony Airways Harmony Airways was a Canadian airline headquartered in Richmond, British Columbia, a suburb of Vancouver. It operated holiday flights from Canada to Mexico, Hawaii and Las Vegas. Its main base was Vancouver International Airport.Flight Interna ...

Peace Air Peace Air was a Canadian regional airline that flew to destinations within the Canadian province of Alberta and to two destinations in eastern British Columbia. It covered niche markets including scheduled flights to smaller communities, freight a ...

and ZIP Air. In 2010, a new parallel taxiway was added alongside runway 07/25, and the main airport apron was extended. An aircraft run-up bay that can accommodate up to three medium weight category aircraft at the same time was added near the Cascade Aerospace hangar. From 2017, Abbotsford International Airport began to see a resurgence in air passenger numbers, with the introduction of service to

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

and

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

with

. In 2018,

Flair Airlines Flair Airlines is a Canadian Low-cost carrier#Ultra low-cost carrier, ultra low-cost carrier (ULCC) headquartered in Edmonton, Alberta. The airline operates scheduled passenger and chartered services with a fleet of Boeing 737 aircraft''.'' The ...

introduced additional flights to

, and new flights to

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

and

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

. Swoop, WestJet's ULCC subsidiary, began similar operations, with flights to Edmonton, Winnipeg, Hamilton, London (ON),

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

, and seasonal flights to

Mazatlán Mazatlán () is a city in the Mexican list of states of Mexico, state of Sinaloa. The city serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding , known as the Mazatlán Municipality. It is located on the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast across from th ...

and

Puerto Vallarta Puerto Vallarta ( or simply Vallarta) is a Mexican resort city near the Bahía de Banderas on the Pacific coast of the Mexico, Mexican state of Jalisco. Puerto Vallarta is the second largest urban agglomeration in the state after the Guadalajara ...

Air Canada Rouge Air Canada Rouge (''Rouge'' meaning 'red' in French) is a subsidiary of Air Canada focused on operating lower-cost flights for leisure travellers. It is fully integrated into the Air Canada mainline and Air Canada Express networks; flights ar ...

used to offer seasonal service to

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

between June and October since 2015. This service was initially suspended in 2019 due to the

Boeing 737 MAX groundings The Boeing 737 MAX passenger airliner was Aircraft on ground, grounded worldwide between March 2019 and December 2020, and again during January 2024, after 346 people died in two similar crashes in less than five months: Lion Air Flight 610 ...

and once again in 2020 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. It has never returned since.

Airshow

Since 1962, the airport has hosted the annual

usually held the second weekend in August. Designated as Canada's national airshow in the mid 1970s by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, it is Canada's largest airshow as well as one of North America's largest airshows. It has been listed as one of the ten best airshows in the world. it draws airplane enthusiasts from all over Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The static displays allow people to get up close to many of the exhibits while numerous performances decorate the skies above. The International Council of Airshows awarded a Silver Pinnacle Award to the airshow in 2014.ICAS Announces Inaugural Pinnacle Awards Recipients
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Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Cargo

Statistics

Annual traffic

Ground transportation

The airport is serviced by Central Fraser Valley Transit Route 21, which connects Aldergrove with Bourquin Exchange in Abbotsford. Per the rider guide dated 2017-09-03, it is unlikely that this service will be useful to airline passengers. The airport is served by Ebus, on their route between Vancouver and Kamloops/Kelowna and Rider Express on their route from Vancouver to Calgary. Ebus is a carrier based in Alberta.

References

External links

*
Abbotsford Airport
on COPA's ''Places to Fly'' airport directory
List of where airlines fly from the Abbotsford Airport
{{authority control Abbotsford Military airbases in British Columbia Certified airports in British Columbia Abbotsford Transport in Abbotsford, British Columbia 1943 establishments in Canada