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Port Hardy Airport sits on the northern tip of Vancouver Island, some 5.2 nautical miles southeast of the town of Port Hardy, British Columbia. Originally built as an RCAF station in the Second World War, it remains an important regional gateway today, served by Pacific Coastal Airlines and general aviation traffic, with three hard-surfaced runways and an ILS approach.
Port Hardy Airport is a Transport Canada-owned aerodrome on the northern end of Vancouver Island, serving the community of Port Hardy and the wider Regional District of Mount Waddington. It began life as a Royal Canadian Air Force station and has since grown into a functioning regional airport, offering scheduled service to Vancouver and charter links further up the coast. For a visiting VFR or IFR pilot, its combination of three runway orientations, an ILS, and a mandatory frequency area make it a straightforward but genuinely interesting stop on a Vancouver Island coastal itinerary.
The airport lies within the Vancouver Flight Information Region and is designated a Mandatory Frequency (MF) area. Vancouver Centre provides enroute air traffic services on 132.2 MHz, with a Pacific Radio remote communications outlet available on 126.7 MHz for relaying to flight service or air traffic control. Locally, Hardy Radio provides an aerodrome advisory (A/G) service on 122.2 MHz, which also doubles as the RDO frequency. The field is classified as an airport of entry, with Canada Border Services Agency clearance available for general aviation aircraft carrying no more than 15 passengers, though no CBSA officers are permanently based on site. The airport is located about 5.2 nautical miles southeast of the town of Port Hardy itself.
Port Hardy has three physical runways, all hard-surfaced and lit. Runway 11/29 is the longest at 4,987 feet and is equipped with an ILS on runway 11. Runway 08/26 is 3,963 feet long. Runway 16/34 is listed at 3,557 feet on the 16 threshold and 2,073 feet on the 34 threshold, reflecting differing declared distances between the two ends. Field elevation is 52 feet.
Local traffic and aerodrome advisories are handled by Hardy Radio on the A/G and RDO frequency of 122.2 MHz, within the Mandatory Frequency area. Enroute contact is with Vancouver Centre on 132.2 MHz, and Pacific Radio maintains a remote communications outlet on 126.7 MHz. An ILS is available for runway 11, supporting instrument approaches into the field.
Port Hardy Airport traces its origins to the Second World War, when it opened in 1943 as Royal Canadian Air Force Station Port Hardy, serving as a strategic air defense station and emergency airfield on the exposed northern coast of Vancouver Island. Wartime records from around 1942 describe the aerodrome as serviceable with three hard-surfaced runways: 08/26 at 4,000 feet, 16/34 at 3,984 feet, and 11/29 at 4,999 feet, each 150 feet wide, at a listed elevation of 40 feet. The airfield's military layout closely foreshadows the runway configuration still in use today.
Port Hardy Airport remains an important transportation hub for the communities of the Regional District of Mount Waddington and continues to be owned and operated as part of the Transport Canada system of airports. Pacific Coastal Airlines operates scheduled services to Vancouver, with charter connections to points such as Bella Bella and Terrace/Kitimat. The terminal building includes a snack bar and vending machines, and a new terminal was developed as a collaborative project between Transport Canada and the Kwakiutl First Nation. The airport is designated an airport of entry, but on-site customs and immigration clearance is not available; general aviation pilots arriving from outside Canada must arrange CANPASS telephone reporting authorization in advance, effectively requiring prior permission before crossing the border into the aerodrome.
