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Rankin Inlet Airport (CYRT) is a medium-sized public airport on the Nunavut mainland, serving as the principal gateway to the Kivalliq region. Operated by the Government of Nunavut, it combines scheduled and charter civil traffic with a Canadian NORAD Region Forward Operating Location on the airfield, making it a distinctive stop for any sim pilot exploring the Canadian Arctic.
Rankin Inlet Airport serves the Hamlet of Rankin Inlet on the western shore of Hudson Bay and functions as the transportation hub for the wider Kivalliq region of Nunavut. It is operated by the Government of Nunavut and hosts both civil airline operations and a Canadian NORAD Region Forward Operating Location used by CF-18 fighters, giving the field a mixed military-civilian character that is unusual for a remote Arctic airport.
The airport lies about one kilometre southwest of the Municipality of Rankin Inlet, Nunavut. Air traffic and weather advisory services are provided by a Flight Service Station managed by NAV CANADA. The field operates under a mandatory frequency (MF) area, with Edmonton Control providing enroute service overhead and Arctic Radio available for flight information service en route.
Rankin Inlet has a single physical runway, 13/31, 5,945 feet long with a hard surface and runway lighting. There is no ILS approach available at the field.
The mandatory frequency is 122.2 MHz, worked by Rankin Radio, applicable within 5 nautical miles and below 3,100 feet ASL. Edmonton Control provides enroute coverage on the PAL frequency of 134 MHz. Arctic Radio (FISE) can be reached on 123.55 MHz as a remote communications outlet, and Rankin Radio also operates a VHF direction-finding facility on 122.2 MHz.
The Canadian NORAD Region Forward Operating Location Rankin Inlet sits on the southwest side of the runway and shares its use with civil traffic when military operations require it, with hangar facilities on site for CF-18 aircraft. In December 2005 the Government of Nunavut announced a three-million-dollar programme to improve the Instrument Landing System and expand the apron. A new terminal building, costing 85 million dollars and funded jointly by the National Trade Corridors Fund and the Government of Nunavut, was scheduled to open in spring 2025, replacing the older terminal whose mechanical and electrical systems had reached the end of their useful life.
Rankin Inlet Airport is a medium-sized public-use aerodrome that acts as the gateway and distribution point for the Kivalliq region, with airlines including Calm Air and Canadian North offering scheduled services and Nolinor Aviation operating charter flights. Weather and aircraft advisory services are provided by a NAV CANADA Flight Service Station, with hours of operation published in the Canada Flight Supplement; services outside normal hours may be available on a call-out basis.
