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Brandon Municipal Airport (CYBR), also known as McGill Field, lies just north of Brandon, Manitoba, and serves the Westman and Parkland regions of western Manitoba and eastern Saskatchewan. Built in 1941 as an RCAF flying training station under the Commonwealth Air Training Plan, it retains a single hard-surfaced instrument runway and a rich wartime heritage, making it a worthwhile stop for VFR pilots exploring the prairies.
Brandon Municipal Airport, historically known as McGill Field, sits on the northern edge of the city of Brandon, Manitoba, and functions today as a regional airport handling scheduled Q400 service alongside general aviation and flying club activity. Its origins as an RCAF training station under the Commonwealth Air Training Plan give it a strong historical character, and the on-site Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum adds interest for visiting pilots. For simulator flyers, the field offers a straightforward single-runway ILS approach set against a backdrop of prairie farmland and a well-preserved aviation heritage site.
The airport is located about 1.6 km north of the city of Brandon, Manitoba, within the Winnipeg FIR. Winnipeg Centre provides area control on 132.25 MHz, with a remote communications outlet available on 126.7 MHz for contacting Winnipeg Radio. The field is classified as an airport of entry, with customs handled on a call-out basis.
Brandon Municipal Airport has one paved, lit runway, 08/26, measuring 6,482 feet and equipped with an ILS on runway 08. Historically the airfield also had two further runways, 14/32 and 02/20, laid out in the classic wartime triangular pattern; 02/20 was decommissioned after the Second World War, and 14/32, though narrowed and maintained with an improved gravel surface for light aircraft use during daylight hours, was itself withdrawn from service in 1996.
Aerodrome traffic is handled on the mandatory frequency 122.1 MHz, which also serves as the A/G frequency and the Winnipeg Radio channel. Winnipeg Centre can be reached on 132.25 MHz, with the 126.7 MHz remote communications outlet available for extended range contact with Winnipeg Radio. Runway 08 is served by an ILS, supporting instrument approaches to the field.
The airport lies close to the city of Brandon itself, making the built-up area a reliable landmark for inbound pilots. The Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum, located on the airport grounds, is a distinctive visual feature that can help confirm the field's position when approaching from the south.
Brandon Municipal Airport was constructed by the Department of National Defence in 1941 for use as RCAF No. 12 Flying Training School under the Commonwealth Air Training Plan, with an original triangular runway layout of 08-26, 14-32 and 02-20, each 850 m by 30 m. Portions of the former RCAF Station Brandon are now recognised as a National Historic Site of Canada, and the Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum on the airfield commemorates this wartime role. The airport was leased to the City of Brandon in 1946 to become a municipal airport and the new home of the Brandon Flying Club, with the Flying Club taking over full operational responsibility in 1952 before this reverted to the City in 1970. Runway 02-20 was decommissioned after the war, while 14-32 served as the crosswind runway until it too was taken out of service in 1996, having been narrowed to 22.85 m beforehand. Runway 08-26 was reconstructed to 1,740 m in 1957 and extended to 1,990 m in 1983, with pavement narrowed from 60 m to 45 m during that project, and airside pavements and drainage were further rehabilitated in 2001. The field has seen scheduled airline service since the late 1970s, including Perimeter Aviation commuter flights, Pacific Western Airlines Boeing 737 service in the mid-1980s, Bearskin Airlines and further Perimeter Aviation flights to Winnipeg in the 1990s, Air Sask Beech 1900 service to Saskatoon and Prince Albert in the early 2000s, a brief WestJet 737 trial in 2000, and the launch of daily WestJet Encore Q400 service to Calgary from September 2013, with a limited non-stop trial to Toronto Pearson operated in summer 2016.
Runway 14-32 remains operational for light aircraft during daylight hours on an improved gravel surface, though without lighting, while runway 08-26 is the primary hard-surfaced runway and is predominantly used given the prevailing westerly wind. The airport continues to host the Brandon Flying Club and serves as a base for general aviation alongside its scheduled WestJet Encore service to Calgary. The Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum operates on the airport grounds as a heritage attraction tied to the field's wartime training role.
