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Windsor Airport (CYQG) lies in the southeast of the city of Windsor, Ontario, directly across the river from Detroit, and is one of the busiest general aviation and cargo gateways in southwestern Ontario. It combines scheduled airline services with a lively general aviation and flying-club scene, and its proximity to Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport makes the surrounding airspace notably busy for visiting VFR pilots.
Windsor Airport, known commercially as Windsor International Airport, serves the city of Windsor and the wider Windsor-Essex region of southwestern Ontario. It is operated on behalf of Windsor City Council by Your Quick Gateway (Windsor) Inc., handles a mix of scheduled airline flights, cargo operations and general aviation, and is designated an airport of entry with Canada Border Services Agency officers on site. For a visiting sim pilot it offers an interesting mix of airline, cargo and light-aircraft traffic in airspace shared closely with Detroit Metro across the international border.
The airport sits in the southeast portion of the city of Windsor, Ontario, close to the Canada-United States border and the Detroit River, in very close proximity to Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport. Because of this proximity, the airspace above Windsor is exceptionally busy, and IFR arrivals and departures are handled by Detroit approach control rather than a Canadian terminal unit. The airport is classified as an airport of entry by Nav Canada, with Canada Border Services Agency officers able to process aircraft carrying up to 325 passengers directly, or up to 450 if unloaded in stages.
Windsor has two paired hard-surfaced runways. Runway 07/25 is the longer of the pair, with runway 07 at 8,070 feet and its reciprocal, runway 25, at 7,746 feet; both ends are lit, and runway 25 is equipped with an ILS. Runway 12/30 is the shorter crosswind runway, with runway 12 at 4,562 feet and runway 30 at 4,813 feet, also hard-surfaced and lit. Field elevation is 620 feet.
Windsor's aerodrome/departure frequency is 126.85 MHz, coordinating with Detroit approach/departure. The airport operates a mandatory frequency (MF) on 124.7 MHz, which also serves as the tower frequency. A VFR advisory service is available on 134.3 MHz, and ATIS broadcasts on 134.5 MHz. Ground movements are handled on 121.7 MHz, and London Radio provides a remote communications outlet reachable on 126.7 MHz. The field is equipped with an ILS serving runway 25.
Given the airport's mandatory frequency status, pilots are expected to establish two-way contact on 124.7 MHz before entering the Windsor MF area, with a VFR advisory service also available on 134.3 MHz. Detroit approach control manages IFR arrivals and departures because of the airspace's proximity to Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, so inbound IFR traffic should expect coordination with that unit rather than a Canadian terminal service.
The airfield began life in 1928 as Walker Airport, named after Hiram Walker, the nineteenth-century whiskey distiller behind the Canadian Club brand. It was brought into the national portfolio of Canadian airports in 1967 in recognition of its growing importance as a regional hub for southwestern Ontario, serving the area between Detroit, Michigan, and London, Ontario, and moving beyond its origins as a simple landing strip. Management passed through several hands in the 2000s: Serco Aviation Services sought early termination of its contract in 2006 after the airport had been running at a loss, and handed operations to the City of Windsor on 1 July 2007. The city then formed Your Quick Gateway (Windsor) Inc. as an interim operator, which proved successful enough to be retained indefinitely. Passenger traffic grew substantially through the 2010s, rising more than 160 percent from 2008 to 2012, aided by new services such as Porter Airlines' 2011 introduction of flights to Toronto's Billy Bishop Airport. In 2013 the City of Windsor invested 14.1 million dollars in a multi-modal cargo terminal, with FedEx signing a twenty-year lease and moving into the new cargo hub by December 2015. In June 2020, Air Canada ended its Windsor to Montreal service amid the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The airport is operated by Your Quick Gateway Inc. on behalf of the City of Windsor and is certified by Transport Canada, functioning as an airport of entry with Canada Border Services Agency customs services on site; a landing fee applies to some aircraft. Based tenants and operators include the Windsor Flying Club, 364 Squadron Royal Canadian Air Cadets, the Canadian Historical Aircraft Association, Journey Air and Great Lakes Flight Centre, alongside fixed-base operators Skyservice and Gateway Aviation, fuel supplied by WorldFuel, and airframe maintenance provided by AAR Corp. The airport continues to combine scheduled airline and seasonal charter flights with cargo operations and general aviation activity.
