Departure
97%
vs 95% ▲ 2
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Dryden Regional Airport (CYHD) is a certified airport in Northwestern Ontario, roughly 10 kilometres northeast of the city of Dryden, sited just off the Trans-Canada Highway at the midpoint between Winnipeg and Thunder Bay. It offers a long paved, ILS-equipped main runway alongside a shorter unpaved crosswind strip, making it a useful waypoint for VFR pilots transiting this remote stretch of Northern Ontario.
Dryden Regional Airport serves the city of Dryden and the surrounding Kenora District as a regional aviation hub, supporting scheduled air services, medical air transport, and a substantial forest-firefighting and helicopter operations base. It is owned by the City of Dryden and operated by the Loomex group. For a simulator pilot, the field is notable for combining a long, lit, ILS-capable hard runway with a much shorter unpaved crosswind strip, set in the wide, lake-strewn boreal landscape of Northwestern Ontario.
The airport lies approximately 10 kilometres northeast of the city of Dryden, immediately off the Trans-Canada Highway, at roughly the midpoint between Winnipeg, Manitoba, and Thunder Bay, Ontario. It sits within the Winnipeg FIR, with Winnipeg Centre providing en-route air traffic services in the area via a remote communication outlet.
Dryden Regional Airport has two physical runways. The primary runway, 12/30, is a hard-surfaced, lit strip 5,968 feet long on the 12 heading and 5,780 feet on the 30 heading, and is equipped with an ILS on runway 12. A secondary unpaved (dirt) runway, 06/24, is 2,316 feet long in each direction and unlit. Field elevation is 1,352 feet.
The aerodrome operates on a Mandatory Frequency (MF) of 122.9 MHz, which also serves as the air-to-ground (A/G) advisory frequency. Winnipeg Centre is reachable via a remote communication outlet (RCO) on 122.1 MHz, which also carries Winnipeg Radio services, while the Ministry of Natural Resources Centre operates on 132.2 MHz. Runway 12 is served by an ILS.
As an MF aerodrome, pilots operating at Dryden are expected to report their position and intentions on 122.9 MHz when approaching, joining, and while in the circuit, in line with standard procedures at Canadian Mandatory Frequency airports. No specific noise abatement or local circuit restrictions are detailed in available sources.
The airport sits directly alongside the Trans-Canada Highway, which provides a clear and continuous visual lead-in line for pilots approaching from either the Winnipeg or Thunder Bay direction. The city of Dryden itself, a few kilometres to the southwest, offers a further landmark for orientation.
Dryden Regional Airport opened in July 1969, built in partnership between the Town of Dryden and Transport Canada. Ownership of the airport transferred fully from Transport Canada to the Corporation of the City of Dryden on 31 January 1996. The airport is certified to Transport Canada standard TP312E as a Code 3C non-precision runway facility for runway 12/30.
The airport today is operated by the Loomex group on behalf of the City of Dryden and functions as a hub for commercial, private and general aviation activity in the region. Based operators and tenants include Provincial Helicopters, Expedition Helicopters, MAG Aerospace, Northern Youth Programs, Wilson's Business Solutions, Hydro One, and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry's Fire Management Headquarters, reflecting the field's importance as a forest-firefighting and medical air transport base. The terminal building provides around 1,100 square metres of space, and the total airport land area covers 238 hectares.
