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Mont-Joli Airport

Coordinates: 48°36′32″N 068°12′29″W / 48.60889°N 68.20806°W / 48.60889; -68.20806
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(Redirected from RCAF Station Mont-Joli)
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 / 48.60889°N 68.20806°W / 48.60889; -68.20806
Websiteaeroportmontjoli.com
Map
CYYY is located in Quebec
CYYY
CYYY
Location in Quebec
CYYY is located in Canada
CYYY
CYYY
CYYY (Canada)
Map
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

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.

History

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

World War II

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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.[citation needed]

Aerodrome information

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In approximately 1942 the aerodrome was listed at 48°36′N 68°12′W / 48.600°N 68.200°W / 48.600; -68.200 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)

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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)

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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

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AirlinesDestinations
Air Inuit Seasonal charter: Port-Menier
Chrono Aviation Seasonal charter: Port-Menier
PAL Airlines Moncton,[8] Wabush

References

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  1. ^ Canada Flight Supplement. Effective 0901Z 16 July 2020 to 0901Z 10 September 2020.
  2. ^ "Synoptic/Metstat Station Information". Archived from the original on 2012-07-07. Retrieved 2011-03-16.
  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.
  8. ^ "PAL Airlines Adds Moncton – Mont-Joli Sector From Nov 2022". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
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