Abbotsford International Airport

Infobox Airport
name = Abbotsford International Airport


IATA = YXX
ICAO = CYXX
type = Public
owner =
operator = City of Abbotsford
city-served =
location = Abbotsford, British Columbia
elevation-f = 195
elevation-m = 59
coordinates = coord|49|01|31|N|122|21|38|W|type:airport|display=inline
website =
r1-number = 07/25
r1-length-f = 9,600
r1-length-m = 2,926
r1-surface = Asphalt/Concrete
r2-number = 01/19
r2-length-f = 5,328
r2-length-m = 1,624
r2-surface = Asphalt
r3-number = 01A/19A
r3-length-f = 1,500
r3-length-m = 457
r3-surface = Turf
stat-year = 2007
stat1-header = Aircraft Movements
stat1-data = 175,405
stat2-header = Passengers
stat2-data = 508,464
footnotes = Sources: Canada Flight SupplementCFS]
Aircraft statistics from Transport Canada [http://www.tc.gc.ca/pol/EN/Report/TP577/pdf/TP577_07.pdf - Aircraft Movement Statistics: NAV CANADA Towers and Flight Service Stations: Annual Report 2007] ]
Passengers from Abbotsford Airport [http://www.abbotsfordairport.ca/AssetFactory.aspx?did=7150 Abbotsford Airport Sets New Passenger Record in 2007] ]

Abbotsford International Airport Airport codes|YXX|CYXX is located in the City of Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada, convert|2.2|NM|abbr=on|lk=in southwest of the city centre.

The airport is classified as an airport of entry by NAV CANADA and is staffed by the Canada Border Services Agency. CBSA officers at this airport currently can handle general aviation aircraft only with no more than 15 passengers

The airport is the second largest airport in the Lower Mainland after Vancouver International Airport (YVR), is the only other airport to host major airlines and functions as a reliever for YVR. Otherwise, the Abbotsford airport caters mostly to the general aviation community.

In 2007, YXX was Canada's seventh busiest airport by aircraft movements, with 175,405 movements and a total, 508,464 passengers passed through Abbotsford International Airport.

History

Constructed as a British Commonwealth Air Training Plan airport. No. 24 Elementary Flying Training School operated from this location. No 5 Operational Conversion Unit was split between Abbotsford and Boundary Bay Airport.

Following World War II, the airport was largely used for general aviation and as a secondary field to Vancouver International Airport. Prior to the use of instrument landing systems, fog could make Vancouver unusable and flights had to land at Abbotsford.

The airport became the home to Skyways Air Services and Conair Aviation in the 1960s. Abbotsford is still the primary base for Conair's fleet of water bombers.

Abbotsford became a jet passenger airport in 1997 with the start of scheduled service to Alberta by WestJet. Prior, Airspeed Aviation had been the exclusive operator offering regional service to Victoria, B.C. since 1986.

Since 2000 many airlines and tour operators have come and gone from Abbotsford, including Air Canada, Canada 3000, Central Mountain Air, Jetsgo, Signature Vacations, Skyservice, Zoom Airlines, Harmony Airways, Peace Air and Air North.

Airshow

It is also known for hosting the annual Abbotsford International Airshow held in August. As one of Canadas largest best airshows, it draws airplane enthusiasts from all over Western Canada and Northwestern United States. One of the fantastic points to this airshow is the static display, which allows people to get up close and personal with many of the exhibitors and of course having their pictures taken with any plane they are allowed to be close to. This feature outways the Toronto Airshow, as the participants to this event, are either parked at Pearson International Airport or Toronto Island Airport. As well, Abbotsford draws a finer selection of planes than Toronto. http://www.abbotsfordairshow.com/

Airlines, tour operators and destinations

*Airspeed Aviation (Victoria)
*BCWest Air (Victoria, Nanaimo) [ [http://www.bcwestair.com/schedules/ BCWest Air] ]
*Sunwing Vacations (Cancun [Seasonal] )
*Transat Holidays (Puerto Vallarta [Seasonal] )
*WestJet (Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto [seasonal] )

References

External links

* [http://www.abbotsfordairport.ca/ Official Abbotsford Airport Website]
* [http://www.copanational.org/PlacesToFly/airport_view.php?pr_id=3&ap_id=266 Page about this airport] on COPA's "Places to Fly" airport directory