Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport

"Winnipeg Airport" redirects here. For other airports in Winnipeg, see List of airports in the Winnipeg area.

Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport
IATA: YWG – ICAO: CYWG – WMO: 71852
Summary
Airport type		Public
Owner		Transport Canada
Operator		Winnipeg Airports Authority (DND)
Serves		Winnipeg, Manitoba
Hub for		Calm Air Cargojet Perimeter Aviation
Elevation AMSL		783 ft / 239 m
Coordinates		49°54′36″N 097°14′24″W
Website		www.waa.ca
Map
CYWG Location in Manitoba
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	ft	m
13/31	8,701	2,652	Asphalt
18/36	11,000	3,353	Asphalt
Statistics (2011)
Aircraft movements			134,531 (2,010)
Number of Passengers			3,389,237
Sources: Canada Flight Supplement Environment Canada Movements from Statistics Canada Passenger statistics from Winnipeg Airports Authority

The public area of the new (2011) terminal building, as seen from inside the departures area.

Inside the departures area of the new (2011) terminal building.

The old terminal building, seen from inside the new one.

The entrance to the airfield viewing lounge in the old terminal building.

The check-in area in the old terminal building.

The interior of the old terminal building.

Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport, more commonly known as Winnipeg International Airport (IATA: YWG, ICAO: CYWG) is an international airport in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It is the eighth busiest airport in Canada by passenger traffic, serving just under 3.4 million passengers, and the 12^th busiest airport by aircraft movements. It is a hub for Calm Air, Cargojet, Kivalliq Air, Perimeter Airlines and Purolator as well as a focus city for Air Canada Jazz and WestJet.

An important transportation hub for the province of Manitoba, Winnipeg International Airport is the only international airport within the province. It is a multi-modal facility and one of several airports in Canada that is fully operational 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The airport is operated by the Winnipeg Airport Authority as part of Transport Canada's National Airports System and is one of eight Canadian airports that has US Border Pre-clearance facilities.

The City of Winnipeg's unique and relatively isolated geographical location makes Winnipeg International Airport the primary international airport for a large area, and as such it is used as a gateway to a large area including the province of Manitoba, parts of neighboring provinces and territories Saskatchewan, Northwestern Ontario and Nunavut, as well as parts of North Dakota and Minnesota in the United States. Along with flights to major cities across Canada, the USA, the Caribbean, Panama, Mexico and Iceland, non-stop flights to numerous small remote communities in Northern Manitoba, Northwestern Ontario and Nunavut are served from the airport.

History

The airport opened in 1928 as Stevenson Aerodrome in honour of the noted Manitoba aviator and pioneer bush pilot, Captain Fred J. Stevenson. Stevenson Aerodrome (Stevenson Field) was Canada's first international airport. In 1958, at the request of the Canadian Department of Transport, Stevenson Field was officially renamed the Winnipeg International Airport.

The former terminal building was built in 1964, and was designed by the architectural firm of Green Blankstein Russell and Associates (subsequently GBR Associates and Stantec Limited). It was expanded and renovated in 1984 by the architectural firm of IKOY, and a hotel was built opposite the terminal building in 1998. The old terminal building, which closed on Sunday October 30th, 2011 is an example of modernist International Style architecture.

On 10 December 2006, the Minister of Transport Lawrence Cannon announced Winnipeg International Airport was to be renamed Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport in honour of the influential politician and aviation businessman from Winnipeg.

Airport redevelopment

A major project involving the construction of a new terminal was completed in 2011. The terminal was designed by the world famous architect César Pelli. The new terminal, is located northeast of the existing terminal, was constructed in two phases, and was opened on October 30, 2011. Construction on the new terminal began in the early spring of 2007. The Winnipeg Airports Authority hopes to attract better services using widebody aircraft such as the Air Canada Boeing 767-300ER, with service to Europe.

Along with the new terminal, a new access road was built and opened in October 2006, and a new four-level, 1,559 stall parkade has been opened as of November 2006. Due to changes in airport priorities, the Winnipeg Airports Authority has closed the third runway (07/25), which had a length of 4,600 ft (1,400 m).

There are now plans for a new luxury airport hotel across from the new terminal as well as office building between the current hotel and new parkade. A new bus terminal opened at the airport complex on August 15, 2009. The new Canada Post plant will also be built at the airport site. There are also plans to develop more runways.

Winnipeg is also trying to become the inland port of Canada and will be using the airport as one of its gateways.

Passenger Services

The new terminal building features two T.G.I. Friday's (one post security in the domestic departures hall and one in the U.S. bound departure area). Salisbury House, Gondola Pizza, Toad Hall Toys, PGA Tour shop, CNBC News, Starbucks, Fuel bar and Red Wok are all available post security in the departures area.

The airport is served by two Duty free stores (both post security) as well as the province's first Liquor Mart Express in the arrivals area.

CentrePort Canada

Richardson International Airport is included in a new 20,000-acre (81 km²) inland port area created by Provincial legislation - CentrePort Canada Act, C.C.S.M. c. C44 - that will offer greenfield investment opportunities for distribution centres, warehousing and manufacturing. CentrePort Canada will allow companies to take advantage of the leading cargo capabilities of Richardson International Airport, as well as:

• an abundance of serviced land ready for investment and development
• Manitoba's strategic mid-continent location
• a well-established multi-modal network of highways, railways, air and sea connections
• direct road and rail access to Canada's western seaports, and
• convenient and economical access to key markets in North America

On April 14, 2009, Prime Minister Stephen Harper with Premier Gary Doer announced at James Richardson that both the Federal and Provincial governments will contribute $212.5 million towards a divided four lane expressway to be called CentrePort Canada Way. It will link Inkster Blvd. to the Perimeter Highway on the north side of the CP Rail Glenboro subdivision parallel to Saskatchewan Ave. to attract new transportation logistics associated development to the City area west and Rosser Municipality northwest of the Airport.

Airlines and destinations

Scheduled

Airlines	Destinations	Terminal
Air Canada	Montréal-Trudeau, Ottawa, Toronto-Pearson, Vancouver Seasonal: Calgary, Cancún, Montego Bay, Punta Cana	Main
Air Canada Express operated by Jazz Air	Calgary, Edmonton, Montréal-Trudeau, Ottawa, Regina, Saskatoon, Thunder Bay, Toronto-Pearson	Main
Air Transat	Seasonal: Montego Bay, Orlando, Panama City	Main
Bearskin Airlines	Dryden, Flin Flon, Fort Frances, Kenora, Lynn Lake, Red Lake, Sioux Lookout, The Pas, Thunder Bay	Main
Calm Air	Arviat, Baker Lake, Chesterfield Inlet, Churchill, Coral Harbour, Flin Flon, Gillam, Rankin Inlet, The Pas, Thompson, Whale Cove, Repulse Bay	Main
Delta Connection operated by SkyWest Airlines	Minneapolis/St. Paul	Main
First Air	Rankin Inlet	Main
Kivalliq Air	Arviat, Baker Lake, Chesterfield Inlet, Churchill, Coral Harbour, Rankin Inlet, Repulse Bay, Sanikiluaq, Whale Cove	Kivalliq
Perimeter Aviation	Berens River, Brandon, Brochet, Cross Lake, Dauphin, Garden Hill, Gods Lake Narrow, Gods River, Lac Brochet, Lynn Lake, Norway House, Oxford House, Pikangikum, Red Sucker Lake, Sandy Lake, St. Theresas Point, Shamattawa, South Indian Lake, Swan River, Tadoule Lake, Thompson, York Landing	Perimeter
Sunwing Airlines	Seasonal: Camaguey, Cancún, Holguin, Huatulco, Montego Bay, Puerto Vallarta, Punta Cana, San Jose del Cabo, Varadero	Main
United Express operated by SkyWest Airlines	Chicago-O'Hare, Denver	Main
WestJet	Calgary, Edmonton, Las Vegas, London (ON), Montréal-Trudeau, Ottawa, Thunder Bay, Toronto-Pearson, Vancouver Seasonal: Cancún, Hamilton, Mazatlan, Montego Bay, Orlando, Palm Springs, Phoenix, Puerto Vallarta	Main

Charter

Airlines	Destinations
Air West Aviation
Canjet	Seasonal: Cancún, Manzanillo, Puerto Vallarta, Puerto Plata, Punta Cana, Santa Clara (Cuba), Varadero
Enerjet
Execaire
Fast Air
Flair Airlines	Fort McMurray, Hamilton, Stephenville, St. John's (Work Crew lift)
Keystone Air Service	Dauphin, Swan River
Nolinor Aviation
Northway Aviation
SkyNorth

Cargo

Airlines	Destinations
Air Canada Cargo
Ameriflight	Minneapolis/St. Paul
Bearskin Airlines	Flin Flon, Kenora, Red Lake, The Pas, Thunder Bay
Calm Air
Cargojet	Calgary, Edmonton, Hamilton, Vancouver
Federal Express	Memphis
FedEx Express operated by Morningstar Air Express
First Air
First Nations Transportation
Kivalliq Air
Perimeter Aviation
Purolator
UPS Airlines	Minneapolis/St. Paul
Volga-Dnepr Airlines
WestJet

Ground transport

Winnipeg Transit runs bus routes 15 and 20 which serves the airport. A Greyhound bus terminal is also located at the airport. A taxi stand is located just outside the terminal building.

Incidents and accidents

• In 2006-2007, 16 flights were diverted to the airport due to emergencies en route.
• On July 23, 1983, Air Canada Flight 143, a Boeing 767 trying to reach Winnipeg as an alternate, was forced to make an emergency landing in Gimli, Manitoba after running out of fuel. No one was injured. This incident was the subject of the book, Freefall, by William Hoffer and the subsequent TV movie, Falling from the Sky: Flight 174, starring William Devane.
• On March 3, 2007, British Airways Flight BA289, a Boeing 747 flying from London Heathrow Airport to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, made an unscheduled landing at Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport after a passenger became unruly when he was refused alcohol. The passenger was charged with mischief, causing a disturbance and failing to comply with instructions from the flight crew. The aircraft sat on the tarmac for two hours before resuming its trip to Phoenix.
• On June 19, 2007, a Northwest Airlines Boeing 747 cargo plane en route from Wilmington, Ohio to Anchorage, Alaska made an emergency landing at Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport after reporting a fire inside the airplane. No one was injured. After cleanup, an unrelated engine problem forced the 747 to remain in Winnipeg, leaving a week later on three engines.
• On August 1, 2007, British Midland Flight BD752 flying from Las Vegas to Manchester, England was diverted to Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport after a 19-year old male passenger failed to comply with crew instructions. The passenger was charged with mischief, uttering threats to cause death or bodily harm, and failing to comply with the flight crew's instructions under the Air Navigation Order. The Airbus A330 flight resumed two hours after being diverted.
• On April 18, 2008, a WestJet Boeing 737-700 aircraft en route from Hamilton to Calgary carrying 106 people including crew had to make an emergency landing at Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport because of a potential hydraulic issue. The airliner landed without incident and no one was injured as a result.
• On February 9, 2009 the airport had to close for a few hours due to an ice storm, the first time since 1986 that the airport has shut down operations. Runways were "deiced" to permit limited use by the afternoon.
• On March 3, 2009, a Perimeter Airlines (Aviation) Metroliner airliner flying back from St. Theresa Pointe with 10 people on board, "belly landed" due to problems with its landing gear. It landed safely, "gear up" and none of the passengers and crew on board were injured.
• On September 17, 2009, Air Canada Flight 122, an Airbus 319 from Calgary to Toronto encountered a problem with its left engine. The A319 made an emergency landing at Winnipeg with 121 passengers and crew on board. None of the passengers and crew on board were injured.
• On October 9, 2009, United Airlines Flight 6648 from Denver landed and was taxiing when it skidded off into the grass due to blowing snow at the airport which caused poor visibility. All 35 passengers and crew were safe but the airport had to close one of two runways due to the incident. It took 18 hours to remove the airliner from the snow. In a separate incident the same evening, an Air Canada Jazz aircraft reported hitting a number of birds shortly after takeoff. The crew turned back to Winnipeg and landed safely. An initial investigation found minor damage on the Air Canada aircraft.
• On October 25, 2010, a United Airlines Boeing 777 made a successful emergency landing in the afternoon after the pilots reported smoke in the cockpit. The flight was from Chicago en route to Shanghai. Everyone on board was fine.
• On December 15, 2011, Delta Air Lines flight 180 from Shanghai to Detroit made a successful medical emergency landing. It was Winnipeg's first 777 in the new terminal.

References

Bibliography

• Canada's Airports: Reinvention & Success. Ottawa: Insight Media commissioned by the Canadian Airports Council (CAC), 2005.

External links

• Winnipeg International Airport
• Past three hours METARs, SPECI and current TAFs for Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport from NAV CANADA as available.