Edmonton International Airport

History

Transport Canada selected the current site for Edmonton International Airport and purchased over 7,000 acres (28 km²) of land. When the airport opened on November 15, 1960, its first terminal was an arch hangar. Today, it is in use by Canadian North. In 1963, a passenger terminal, built in the international style, was opened. It remains in use as the North Terminal. Artwork, fired by Alberta Natural Gas, adorned the departures area exterior. A large mural, commissioned by the Canadian government in 1963 for CAD$18,000 titled "Bush Pilot in Northern Sky" by Jack Shadbolt, remains to this day. An appraisal in 2005 indicated that the mural was worth $750,000, and a restoration of the mural was undertaken in 2007.

During the 1970s, the airport experienced a rapid growth in traffic as the city of Edmonton grew, and served approximately 2 million passengers by 1980. However, from the early 1980s until 1995, traffic declined. This decline was attributed to the continued usage of Edmonton City Centre Airport as well as to a slowing economy. Edmonton City Centre did not have the facilities to accept large wide bodied long haul aircraft, thus airlines used City Centre to fly short-haul flights to hubs in other cities where connections to many locations were available.

Growth returned in 1995. In a municipal plebiscite in that year, 77% of voting Edmontonians voted to consolidate all scheduled jet passenger service at Edmonton International Airport.

In 1998, the airport underwent a $282 million "1998–2005 Redevelopment Project". The three-phase project included the construction of a south terminal and central hall concept, a commuter facility, doubling of the apron, and a multi-storey parkade. This redevelopment project expanded the passenger capacity to 5.5 million.

By the time the expansion project was completed in 2005, continued passenger growth triggered planning for another expansion. A new 107,000-square-foot control and office tower was added in 2009.

Further expansion was completed in 2013. Expansions have increased terminal capacity, improved the passenger experience through introduction of travelators, lounges, and retail, increased the number of gates available for aircraft and improved apron capacity among other improvements. Functional highlights include seven new passenger gates, 14 boarding bridges, six new elevators and moving walkways, over 100 security doors, and advanced baggage handling and scanning systems. Incremental improvements like improving de-icing capacity and implementing common use systems for airlines were also delivered. The Renaissance Hotel and the iconic snow-drift inspired control and office tower are recent major additions to the airport landscape.

In 2016, the Edmonton International Airport expected to begin twinning Highway 19, a project expected to be completed by 2018. The realignment of the highway will allow for the airport to finalize engineering and begin construction on the airport's third runway - runway 11/29. Runway 11/29, upon completion, is planned to be 3,530 m (11,580 ft) long. In August 2016, the Government of Alberta announced $90 million in funding to begin twinning Highway 19 and that it has protected the area needed for the third runway. Edmonton International Airport also plans to extend the existing Runway 12/30 by one-third its current length from 3,100 m (10,200 ft) to 4,030 m (13,220 ft) to increase accessibility and capacity.

Airline service

EIA is one of WestJet's largest focus cities: the airline flies to 28 destinations with 46 daily departures, non-stop, from Edmonton. WestJet is the largest carrier at Edmonton International Airport, holding more than 50% of the market share. Edmonton is also a focus city for flag carrier Air Canada and Air Canada Express, which, combined, operate to 10 destinations.

Canadian North and First Air connect their northern networks through Edmonton.

New airline service

WestJet inaugurated its seasonal service to London Gatwick from Edmonton in May 2016.

On September 25, 2015, Air China Cargo inaugurated its flight to Edmonton from Shanghai and Dallas/Fort Worth, with return flights to Shanghai making a stop in Tianjin. On November 3rd 2016, Air China Cargo replaced the Dallas/Fort Worth service with Chicago.

On December 19, 2015, Delta Air Lines began daily non-stop service to Seattle/Tacoma operated by SkyWest Airlines doing business as Delta Connection.

On July 25, 2016, NewLeaf began operating non-stop flights from Edmonton to numerous cities within Canada. The destinations served from Edmonton have been changing since the inaugural flights.

On September 5, 2016, Integra Air began operating a new route to Medicine Hat.

Fort McMurray evacuation

The Edmonton International Airport played a major role during the 2016 Fort McMurray Wildfire, operating as hubs for aerial firefighting and Medevac. The Airport also became a way-station and temporary shelter for thousands of Fort McMurray evacuees. The Emergency Operations Centre in the airport ran for 112 hours, organizing the arrival and departure of hundreds of aircraft — the longest in the EIA’s history.

During the month of May, the airport saw more than 300 additional daily flights on top of their regularly scheduled service. The airport normally handled some 400 aircraft per day, but the evacuation caused airport officials to handle more than 700 aircraft daily. According to the airport's operational manager, most aircraft were "wingtip to wingtip." This caused delays to regular airline service by 10 to 20 minutes, and overall waiting times to increase by 10–15 minutes.

Passenger Facilities

EIA offers US Border Pre-clearance facilities. Passengers from domestic flights connecting in Edmonton to a US destination use EIA's Quick Connect, which relieves passengers from having to claim and recheck baggage during the connection, and the passenger just has to clear security and US Customs and Border Protection before proceeding to their departure gate.

The four-star Renaissance Edmonton Airport Hotel is attached to the terminal.

Airline Lounges

EIA offers an Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge and two Plaza Premium lounges.

Aircraft Facilities

EIA can handle aircraft designated as Code F by the ICAO (the Boeing 747-8 and the Airbus A380), and has been approved by airline as a diversion airport for the A380. They can be accommodated at gates 78, 80, 82 or 84 in the US departures area if the adjacent gates are not in use. Such a diversion has happened at least once thus far.

Air-cargo Facilities

In January 2015, Edmonton-based trucking company Roseneau Transport, unveiled its plan to open a new 210,000 square feet (20,000 m²) distribution centre and warehouse at the airport in November 2015. The facility, custom-built by Panattoni Development Company, will be a hub between the company’s ground cargo and its new venture of air freight and will give Western Canadian shippers the ability to send cargo to Edmonton that can be put on a plane to any destination within 24-hours.

Additional air cargo expansion at the airport includes:

Emergency and policing

Edmonton International Airport Emergency Response Services provides fire services from one station with five tenders/pumpers and additional assistance from the Leduc County Fire Services with an additional pumper on site.

Policing is provided by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's Airport Detachment.

Day to Day security is provided by Garda.

Regional air traffic control

The Edmonton Area Control Centre (ICAO: CZEG) operated by Nav Canada is located at the airport. It is responsible for all aircraft movements over Alberta (including Calgary) and most of northern Canada, including the high Arctic.

Airline Operational Facilities

Northern carrier Canadian North maintains its operations facilities at EIA.

Market

EIA has a catchment area encompassing Central and Northern Alberta, northern British Columbia, and Yukon and the Northwest Territories. Total catchment area is 1.8 million residents.

EIA is located within the Edmonton Capital Region, close to the towns of Devon and Beaumont, the city of Leduc, and adjacent to the Nisku industrial park. It is immediately west of the Queen Elizabeth II Highway, south of Highway 19, and 1.6 km (0.99 mi) north of Highway 39. Within this immediate radius of the terminal there are many full-service hotels and offsite parking lots complete with terminal shuttle service to offer a full range of services to the travelling public.

Business passenger traffic is generated by a regional banking and financial cluster and major pension and wealth fund managers, provincial government operations, oilfield service businesses, a major Canadian research university (the University of Alberta), petrochemical, biotechnology, and real estate operations located in Edmonton and area.

Outbound leisure passenger traffic is driven by high average disposable income in Edmonton. Inbound leisure passenger traffic is driven by major tourist destinations in Edmonton such as West Edmonton Mall, the Edmonton Fringe Festival and nearby Jasper National Park.

Passenger

Edmonton International Airport provides scheduled non-stop flights to 52 destinations.

Cargo

In addition, Air Bridge Cargo, Korean Air Cargo, Atlas Air, Etihad Cargo and Lufthansa Cargo fly multiple charters to Edmonton year round.

Other

The following airlines operate out of private facilities:

Public transit

Edmonton Transit System (ETS) provides express service between the Edmonton International Airport and the Century Park LRT Station, facilitating connections to the region's wider transit system. Route 747 runs between 4:10 a.m. and midnight every 30 minutes most times of the day. A one-way fare is C$5.00.

Leduc Transit's Route 3 provides service between the airport and the city of Leduc.

Airport shuttle

The SkyShuttle services the airport and selected stops in the city of Edmonton typically adjacent to major hotels. This service must be pre-booked by phone or online. The fare for this route is C$18.00 one way per adult as of 2012.

Automobile

The airport is located adjacent to the Queen Elizabeth II Highway south of Edmonton.

Ground transportation to other cities

Weather

The weather station has been recording since 1961, at an elevation of 723 metres (2,372 ft) at 53°19′N 113°35′W. The Airport sees 77 days with rainfall, and 53 days with snowfall; in total the airport averages 446.1 millimetres (17.56 in) of precipitation per year. Daily average temperatures for the year are 3.9 °C (39.0 °F), and vary from 16.2 °C (61.2 °F) in July to −12.1 °C (10.2 °F) in January. Daily maximums are 22.8 °C (73.0 °F) in July, and 6.3 °C (43.3 °F) in January. The wind is predominantly from the South, with an average speed of 12.2 kilometres per hour (7.6 mph). 13.3 days are at or above 30.0 °C (86.0 °F), and 12.6 are at or below −30.0 °C (−22.0 °F) per year. Humidity stays steady through the year, from 79.3% at 06:00, to 56.3% at 15:00. 61.2 hours a year have visibility less than 1 kilometre (0.62 mi), and 8133.1 hours with more than 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) visibility. The airport receives 3210.1 hours of sunshine annually.

Extremes

Extremes for the airport are; A record high of 35.6 °C (96.1 °F) on August 18, 2008, and record low of −48.3 °C (−54.9 °F) on January 26, 1972. The highest humidex reading was 38.7 on August 2, 1965, and the lowest wind chill at −61.0 °C (−77.8 °F) on January 26, 1972. The maximum hourly speed record is 87 kilometres per hour (54 mph) on October 1, 1965, and the strongest gust was 146 kilometres per hour (91 mph) on the same day.

Appearances in Media

On October 5th 2016, the History Channel began airing a new series that revolves around the Edmonton International Airport, Airport: Below Zero. The show follows the airport's day-to-day operations and how the staff are able to keep the airport running smoothly, even during the extreme winter weather.

Accidents and incidents

Premium Outlet Collection

In May 2015, an official groundbreaking ceremony was held for a new premium outlet mall by developer Ivanhoe Cambridge, which is to be located at the Edmonton International Airport. In early 2016, Ivanhoe Cambridge announced that Simon Property Group would partner with them in the construction, development and leasing of the mall, officially named Premium Outlet Collection - Edmonton International Airport. Construction officially began in Spring 2016 on the more than 580,000 sq ft (54,000 m²) shopping mall. The mall will feature over 100 outlet stores, with many of them making their Canadian debut. As of October 2016, Premium Outlet Collection - EIA is on track to be completed by Fall 2017.

Office and hotel park

Adjacent to the Edmonton Premium Outlets will be office buildings and hotels, located on the Queen Elizabeth II Highway at Airport Road.