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Victoria International Airport (CYYJ) is a busy controlled aerodrome on the Saanich Peninsula north of Victoria, British Columbia, serving as the region's principal gateway with scheduled airline links to Vancouver, Seattle and beyond. It is also home to the Royal Canadian Air Force's 443 Maritime Helicopter Squadron, giving the field a distinctive mix of civil airline and military helicopter traffic that makes it an engaging destination for the VFR sim pilot.
Victoria International Airport, ICAO CYYJ, serves the city of Victoria on Vancouver Island and is operated by the Victoria Airport Authority. It sits on the Saanich Peninsula, with the terminal and much of the airfield in North Saanich and a small portion extending into Sidney. Alongside its role as a busy regional airline hub, the airport is home to Arundel Castle, the operating base of 443 Maritime Helicopter Squadron of the Royal Canadian Air Force, which flies Sea King and successor helicopters from the field, giving it an unusual character for a sim pilot to explore, part scheduled-airline hub and part active military helicopter base.
The airport lies about 12 nautical miles north northwest of Victoria on the Saanich Peninsula, beside Patricia Bay. It is a controlled aerodrome with its own air traffic control tower, and is classified as an airport of entry, with Canada Border Services Agency officers on site to handle arriving international traffic. Pilots should expect to operate within controlled airspace and to be worked by Victoria Tower, Ground, and the associated approach and departure positions rather than making an uncontrolled join.
Victoria International has three physical runway pairs. The main runway, 09/27, is 6,954 feet long, has a hard surface, is lit, and is equipped with an ILS. Runway 14/32 is a hard-surfaced, lit runway of around 4,973 feet. Runway 03/21 is a shorter hard-surfaced, lit runway of around 4,154 feet. Field elevation is 52 feet.
Victoria Tower operates on 119.1 MHz for the outer tower position (used unless closed by ATIS) and 119.7 MHz for the inner position. Ground is on 121.9 MHz, Clearance Delivery is available, and Victoria Terminal operates on 127.8 MHz. Victoria Arrivals is on 125.95 MHz and Victoria Departures on 133.85 MHz. The ATIS broadcasts on 118.8 MHz, and a company/clearance frequency (CLD) is listed on 126.4 MHz. Private advisory frequencies are published for Shell (122.85 MHz) and Esso (122.95 MHz) fuel operations. Military helicopter operations by 443 Squadron ('Stinger') use 349.3 MHz. A remote communications outlet for Kamloops Radio is available on 119.7 MHz (RAAS service, 0800-1400Z), and Pacific Radio (FISE) can be reached on 122.375 MHz. Runway 09/27 is served by an ILS for instrument approaches.
As a controlled aerodrome with an operating tower, all arriving and departing traffic is worked by Victoria Tower and the associated ground, terminal, arrival and departure positions rather than following an uncontrolled joining procedure; pilots should expect to be given specific circuit or approach instructions by ATC appropriate to the runway in use and to remain in contact with the tower for sequencing among the mix of airline, general aviation and military helicopter movements.
The airport sits beside Patricia Bay on the Saanich Peninsula, with the town of Sidney immediately to the south and east and the city of Victoria some 12 nautical miles to the south. The proximity of the bay and the peninsula's shoreline, along with the nearby Gulf Islands, provide useful visual references for pilots approaching from the surrounding waters and lower Vancouver Island terrain.
The airfield began in 1939 as a grass strip and was soon put to military use. During 1940-1941 it operated as Royal Air Force Station Patricia Bay, providing basic flying training for RAF pilots before their return to the United Kingdom. Around 1942 it became a Royal Canadian Air Force installation, listed as RCAF Aerodrome Patricia Bay, with three hard-surfaced runways each 5,000 feet long. Its position beside Patricia Bay also made it well suited to flying boat operations, which were common at the time. The Department of Transport took over the airport in 1948, when it became known as Victoria (Patricia Bay) Airport, a name still recalled in the local nickname 'Pat Bay Airport'. Trans-Canada Airlines, forerunner of Air Canada, began regular services in 1943, and the field was renamed Victoria International Airport in 1959. The last RCAF unit departed in 1952, but military helicopter operations returned in July 1989 when HS 443 Squadron, flying CH-124 Sea King anti-submarine helicopters, relocated from CFB Shearwater to support Canadian Forces Maritime Command operations in the Pacific; the squadron was redesignated 443 Maritime Helicopter Squadron in 1995. In 1997, operational control of the airport passed from Transport Canada to the newly formed Victoria Airport Authority as part of a nationwide restructuring of Canadian airports.
Victoria International Airport is run by the Victoria Airport Authority and remains one of British Columbia's busiest airports, with frequent flights to Vancouver and Seattle plus domestic services to cities including Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa, Toronto and, seasonally, Montreal, along with winter charter flights to Mexican resort destinations. It continues to serve as an airport of entry with Canada Border Services Agency officers on site, and remains the home base of 443 Maritime Helicopter Squadron of the Royal Canadian Air Force, so pilots can expect to share the circuit and approach environment with a mix of scheduled airliners, general aviation traffic and military helicopters.
