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Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport (IATA: YWG, ICAO: CYWG) is an airport in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It is one of the busiest airports in Canada by passenger traffic, serving just over 3.5 million passengers, and the 13 busiest airport by aircraft movements. It is also an Air Canada / Air Canada Jazz and WestJet focus city.

Location

The airport is located at the western end of Wellington Avenue in Winnipeg, near the "aerospace hub" made up of Aveos Fleet Performance Inc., formerly Air Canada Technical Services/ACTS (Aero Technical Support & Services Inc.), Magellan Aerospace, Boeing Winnipeg and StandardAero.

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 existing 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 terminal building 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 James Armstrong Richardson Sr., an influential aviation businessman from Winnipeg.

Airport redevelopment

A major project involving the construction of a new terminal is underway. The terminal was designed by the world famous architect César Pelli. The new terminal, to be located northeast of the existing terminal, is being constructed in two phases with the first phase complete by 2010. Construction on the new terminal began in the early spring of 2007. The Winnipeg Airports Authority hopes to attract better services using widebody aircraft including the Boeing 747 with the completion of the new terminal. It should also attract the A380, A340, Boeing 777, and 787. Most recent plans for the current terminal are for a complete "teardown" in 2010. In its place, a new shared facility building will become the new home of the Western Canada Aviation Museum.

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. Future airport plans include siting the new bus terminal in the airport complex. 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 its advantage to try become the port. They are going to call it Centre Port Airport Campus when everything is completed and if and when they win the port.

CentrePort Canada

Richardson International Airport is included in a new 20,000-acre 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 Preimer Gary Doer annouced 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 develoment to the City area west and Rosser Municipality northwest of the Airport.

Airlines and destinations

Smaller regional airlines serving northern communities (except Bearskin Airlines and Calm Air) fly out of the Perimeter Airlines terminal located across from the Western Canada Aviation Museum, at the Keewatin/Kivalliq , formerly Flightcraft Terminal or at the general/commercial aviation terminals located on the west side of the airport complex. Bigger airlines fly out of the Main Terminal.

Current airlines

Main terminal

Esso Avitat/Shell Aerocentre terminals

Keewatin/Kivalliq terminal

Perimeter/Calm Air terminals

Cargo airlines

Ground transport

Winnipeg Transit runs bus #15 which serves the airport.

Incidents and accidents

• In 2006-2007, 16 flights were diverted to the airport due to emergencies en route.
• On 23 July 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 3 March 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 19 June 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 1 August 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 resumed flight two hours after being diverted.
• On 18 April 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 9 February 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 3 March 2009,a Perimeter Airlines (Avation) 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.

Importance

YWG (Winnipeg) is Canada's third largest airport by cargo tonnage, with approximately 150,000 metric tonnes of air cargo moving through the airport in 2005. Two of Canada's largest air cargo companies use Winnipeg as a major domestic hub: Purolator and Cargojet. (Smaller cargo, courier and charter operations from Calm Air International, FedEx Express, Perimeter Aviation, NAC Air and UPS also fly out of YWG.) It is one of five airports in Canada designated under the federal government's International Cargo Transshipment Program, one of eight Canadian airports that has US Border Pre-clearance facilities and one of 26 airports that make up Canada's National Airports System. The current terminal is over its maximum capacity of 600,000.

References

Notes

1. ^ Airport Divestiture Status Report
2. Canada Flight Supplement. Effective 0901Z 16 July 2020 to 0901Z 10 September 2020.
3. ^ TP141 - Aircraft Movement Statistics
4. ^
5. Winnipeg Airport Authorities, Press release: "Canada's New Government Renames Winnipeg International Airport in Honour of James Armstrong Richardson." Retrieved: 14 December 2006.
6. SkyscraperPage Forum
7. Canada Post announces new state-of-the-art plant to be built at the airport
8. "Winnipeg Inland Port|Winnipeg Manitoba Canada." CentrePort Canada. Retrieved: 26 February, 2009.
9. First Air route map
10. CTV News Report 16 October 2007
11. Winnipeg Sun article
12. Warning signal forces cargo plane to land (The Winnipeg Free Press Online Edition: 19 June 2007)
13. Midland Flight

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.

• Airports in Manitoba
• Transportation in Winnipeg
• Airports with United States border preclearance
• WAAS reference stations