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Cranbrook/Canadian Rockies International Airport (CYXC) lies in the Rocky Mountain Trench of southeastern British Columbia, a few miles north of the city of Cranbrook itself. It offers a single long, lit asphalt runway with a Category I ILS, making it a useful and instructive stop for simulator pilots practising mountain-region instrument approaches and airline-style operations.
Cranbrook/Canadian Rockies International Airport serves the city of Cranbrook in the East Kootenay region of British Columbia, deep in the Canadian Rockies. It is owned by the City of Cranbrook and operated by Elevate Airports, and it hosts scheduled services alongside general aviation traffic. For a simulator pilot, its long runway, ILS approach and dramatic mountain surroundings make it an appealing destination for both airline and general aviation flights.
The airport sits about 5 nautical miles north of Cranbrook and roughly 20 kilometres south-east of Kimberley, within the Canadian Rockies. It is classified by Transport Canada as an airport of entry and is staffed by the Canada Border Services Agency, with CBSA officers able to process general aviation aircraft carrying no more than 15 passengers.
The field has a single physical runway, 16/34, oriented broadly north-south. Runway 34 is 7,998 feet long, hard-surfaced and lit. Runway 16 is 7,213 feet long, hard-surfaced, lit, and equipped with an instrument landing system, giving pilots a precision approach into this mountain-ringed airfield.
Air-to-ground communications are handled on 122.3 MHz, which also serves as the mandatory frequency and the remote communications outlet/radio frequency for the field. Vancouver Centre provides area control on 133.6 MHz, and Pacific Radio can be reached via the remote communications outlet on 126.7 MHz. The airport is served by a Category I ILS on runway 16, guiding aircraft down to 200 feet in half a mile of visibility. The airport is operated around the clock by the Cranbrook Flight Service Station.
The airport has long been a hub for the East Kootenay region, with the Cranbrook Flight Service Station providing continuous air traffic services. On 11 February 1978, Pacific Western Airlines Flight 314, a Boeing 737-200 operating from Edmonton via Calgary to what was then Castlegar Airport, crashed at Cranbrook after a rejected landing carried out to avoid a snowplow on the runway; the aircraft's thrust reversers failed to stow fully, and 42 of the 49 people on board were killed.
Cranbrook/Canadian Rockies International Airport continues to operate as an airport of entry, with Canada Border Services Agency officers on hand to process general aviation arrivals carrying up to 15 passengers. The field is operated 24 hours a day by the Cranbrook Flight Service Station and supports a mix of scheduled airline movements and general aviation traffic, with fuel available on the field.
