Mont-Joli Airport

Mont-Joli Airport (IATA: YYY, ICAO: CYYY) is located 1.5 nautical miles (2.8 km; 1.7 mi) north northwest of Mont-Joli, Quebec, Canada. It is the only airport with scheduled service in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region.

Mont-Joli Airport
Summary
Airport typePublic
OperatorRégie Intermunicipale
LocationMont-Joli, Quebec
Time zoneEST (UTC−05:00)
 • Summer (DST)EDT (UTC−04:00)
Elevation AMSL172 ft / 52 m
Coordinates48°36′32″N 068°12′29″W
Websiteaeroportmontjoli.com
Map
CYYY
Location in Quebec
CYYY
CYYY (Canada)
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
06/24 6,000 1,829 Asphalt
15/33 3,954 1,205 Asphalt
Statistics (2010)
Aircraft movements5,798
Sources: Canada Flight Supplement[1]
Environment Canada[2]
Movements from Statistics Canada[3]

History
Apron, terminal, and control tower
World War II plane in operation at Mont-Joli Airport

World War II

In the summer of 1940 the Royal Canadian Air Force selected a flat area of farmland between Mont-Joli Station (on the Montreal-Halifax Canadian National Railway mainline) and the Saint Lawrence River for a military airfield. Construction on the aerodrome began in October 1941 and was completed by April 1942 at a cost of $200,000. Three paved runways and 50 buildings were constructed for what became known as RCAF Station Mont-Joli.

Inaugurated on April 15, 1942, RCAF Station Mont-Joli was a training base for the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan and hosted No. 9 Bombing and Gunnery School from 15 December 1941 until 14 April 1945.[4] RCAF Station Mont-Joli was used by RCAF Eastern Air Command during the Battle of the St. Lawrence as a coastal patrol base; during 1942–1944, Canadian cargo ships and warships were sunk by German U-boats in an effort to close the Saint Lawrence Seaway off to shipping. Aircraft staging out of Mont-Joli were among those used to ward off U-boats and ensure the safety of shipping to the eastern tip of the Gaspé Peninsula at Cap-Gaspé.

Aerodrome information

In approximately 1942 the aerodrome was listed at 48°36′N 68°12′W with a Var. 24 degrees W and elevation of 100 feet (30 m). The aerodrome was listed as with three runways as follows: [5]

Runway Name Length Width Surface
6/24 5,000 feet (1,524 m) 150 feet (46 m) 4000' paved
16/34 4,600 feet (1,402 m) 150 feet (46 m) 4000' paved
2/20 5,000 feet (1,524 m) 150 feet (46 m) 4300' paved

Post war (1945–1995)

RCAF Station Mont-Joli was decommissioned by the air force in 1945 and became the property of the Department of Transport (now Transport Canada) on December 15, 1945 for use as a civilian airport.

Current (1995–present)

Its ownership was transferred again in 1995 to the "Régie intermunicipale de l’aéroport régional de Mont-Joli". It is the busiest airport in eastern Quebec, though still very far from the Québec/Jean Lesage International Airport in Quebec City and Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport in Montreal.

In 2007 a second runway (15/33) was opened and runway 06/24 decreased in length from 6,000 ft (1,829 m) to 5,000 ft (1,524 m). In 2017, runway 06/24 was once again extended to 6,000 ft (1,829 m), in order to accommodate the B737-800. Sunwing Airlines started flying that aircraft type from Mont-Joli to Punta Cana in December 2017.[6]

Air Canada indefinitely suspended its operations at Mont-Joli Airport in June 2020 due to the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada.[7]

Airlines and destinations
AirlinesDestinations
Air Inuit Seasonal charter: Port-Menier, Quebec City, Montreal-Trudeau
Chrono Aviation Seasonal charter: Port-Menier
PAL Airlines Bagotville, Montreal–Trudeau, Wabush
Pascan Aviation Montréal–Saint-Hubert, Quebec City, Sept-Îles, Wabush

References
  1. Canada Flight Supplement. Effective 0901Z 16 July 2020 to 0901Z 10 September 2020.
  2. Synoptic/Metstat Station Information
  3. Total aircraft movements by class of operation — NAV CANADA flight service stations
  4. Hatch, F. J. (1983). The Aerodrome of Democracy: Canada and the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, 1939-1945. Ottawa: Directorate of History, Department of National Defence. ISBN 0660114437.
  5. Staff writer (c. 1942). Pilots Handbook of Aerodromes and Seaplane Bases Vol. 1. Royal Canadian Air Force. p. 70.
  6. aeroportmontjoli.com - The Airport
  7. Evans, Pete (June 30, 2020). "Air Canada cancels 30 domestic routes, closes 8 stations at regional airports". CBC News. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
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