Nordair

Nordair

IATA ND ICAO NDR Callsign Nordair
Founded	1947
Fleet size	21+
Destinations	Canada
Headquarters	Dorval, Quebec

Nordair (IATA: ND, ICAO: NDR, Call sign: Nordair) is a defunct Quebec-based regional airline founded in 1947 from the merger of Boreal Airways and Mont Laurier Aviation. The airline operated from the 1950s to the 1980s. Most of its business was international and transatlantic passenger and freight charters and other contracts. It also operated flights to a number of destinations in the Northwest Territories. Nordair originally flew out of Montreal's two airports: Dorval Airport (now Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport) and Montréal-Mirabel International Airport. It was headquartered in Montreal (operations at Dorval, Quebec and head office at 1320 Boulevard Graham in Mont Royal).^[1]

Merger and aftermath

Lockheed L-1049H Super Constellation of Nordair at Manchester Airport England on a freight charter

Nordair DC-4 Inflight

Nordair Boeing 737 at airlines base in Montreal.

Nordair McDonnell Douglas DC-8 at the operative base.

Nordair was purchased by Canadian Pacific Air Lines. On March 27, 1987, Pacific Western Airlines purchased Canadian Pacific Air Lines and emerged as Canadian Airlines. The jet operation was absorbed into Canadian while the turboprop operations were absorbed into Inter-Canadien.

Another company called Nordair Quebec 2000 Incorporated operated in 2000 as a domestic regional carrier and cargo operator in Quebec, but the licence and licence applications for the airline were suspended in 2006 by Transport Canada and once again the Nordair name disappeared.

Destinations

Some of the destinations flown by Nordair during the airline's existence:

Canada

• Ontario
  • Dryden
  • Hamilton
  • Ottawa
  • Sault Ste. Marie
  • Thunder Bay
  • Toronto
  • Windsor
• Quebec
  • Raglan Mines (Deception Bay)
  • Chibougamau
  • Kuujjuaq
  • Kuujjuarapik
  • Matagami
  • Montreal
  • Quebec City
  • Radisson (La Grande)
  • Val-d'Or
• Manitoba
  • Winnipeg
• Nunavut
  • Arctic Bay
  • Nanisivik
  • Hall Beach
  • Iqaluit
  • Resolute
• Northwest Territories
  • Inuvik
  • Yellowknife

Outside of Canada

Many of the flights to the US and Europe were chartered flights, as Nordair had no scheduled flights outside of Canada.

• • Grand Bahama Island - from Hamilton
  • select Caribbean locations
  • Mexico, especially Cancun
  • Orlando - from Toronto
  • Fort Lauderdale - scheduled
  • Miami, Florida
  • St. Petersburg, Florida-Clearwater, Florida
  • Van Nuys, California
  • Los Angeles, California
  • Seattle, Washington
  • Omaha, Nebraska
  • Pittsburgh - scheduled
  • Frankfurt
  • Amsterdam
  • Düsseldorf
  • London Gatwick Airport
  • Shannon, Ireland

Non-Revenue

Nordair was contractor to both the Canadian Forces (reconnaissance) and USAF (flights to DEW stations from Alaska to Baffin Island.^[2]

Fleet

• Boeing 737-242 and 2Q8, 2H4, 212, 296, 2T4, 242C, 2Q9, 2E1
• Convair 990-30A-5
• C-46-1CU Commando
• Douglas DC-6B
• Douglas DC-3
• Douglas DC-4
• Douglas DC-8-52, 71
• Fairchild FH-227D, 227B, 227E
• Lockheed L-1049H-03 Super Constellation
• Lockheed L-188C Electra
• Douglas DC-8-61CF
• BAC One-Eleven
• Short SC.7 Skyvan

Accidents and incidents

• On 6 February 1973, Douglas C-47B CF-HTH was damaged beyond economic repair when it was hit by a vehicle at an airport in Montreal.^[3]

• On 15 November 1975, Douglas C-47 C-FCSC was damaged beyond economic repair by a fire at La Grande Rivière Airport, Radisson, Quebec.^[4]

On 31 March 1977 L-188 CF-NAZ, while parked on the ramp at CFB Summerside, was severely damaged when a Canadian Forces CP-107 (tail 10737) attempted a three-engine landing in weather. She was rebuilt in Van Nuys and re-registered as C-GNDZ.

References

1. ^ World Airline Directory. Flight International. March 20, 1975. "495.
2. ^ http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:OTN8yb5Kb2sJ:www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1986/1986%2520-%25200773.html+Nordair+Toronto+to+Orlando&cd=6&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ca&client=firefox-a&source=www.google.ca Flight International 1986 - p113
3. ^ "CF-HTH Hull-loss description". Aviation Safety Network. http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19730206-0. Retrieved 26 August 2010. 
4. ^ "C-FCSC Hull-loss description". Aviation Safety Network. http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19751115-1. Retrieved 21 August 2010. 

External links

• Nordair
• airlinesearch=Nordair&distinct_entry=true Nordair aircraft images