Sault Ste. Marie Airport

For the airport in Michigan, United States, see Sault Ste. Marie Municipal Airport.
Sault Ste. Marie Airport
Summary
Airport typePublic
OperatorSault Ste. Marie Airport Development Corporation
LocationSault Ste. Marie, Ontario
Time zoneEST (UTC−05:00)
 • Summer (DST)EDT (UTC−04:00)
Elevation AMSL632 ft / 193 m
Coordinates46°29′06″N 084°30′34″W / 46.48500°N 84.50944°W / 46.48500; -84.50944
Websitesaultairport.com
Map
CYAM is located in Ontario
CYAM
CYAM
Location in Ontario
CYAM is located in Canada
CYAM
CYAM
CYAM (Canada)
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
04/22 6,000 1,829 Asphalt
12/30 6,000 1,829 Asphalt
Statistics (2019)
Number of passengers211,277
Aircraft movements57,376

Sault Ste. Marie Airport (IATA: YAM, ICAO: CYAM) is an international airport located 8.0 nautical miles (14.8 km; 9.2 mi) west-southwest of the city of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada at the far eastern end of Lake Superior and the beginning of the St. Mary's River.

History

The Canadian government opened the airport in 1961 and operated it until 1998, when it handed control over to the newly formed Sault Ste. Marie Airport Development Corporation (SSMADC) under the terms of the National Airports Policy. Of the 23 Ontario regional, local, or small airports handed over under the policy, the Sault Ste. Marie airport is the only one not affiliated with a municipality, since the city of Sault Ste. Marie declined to assume control.[1]

In 2002, the SSMADC opened Runway Park, an entertainment and recreation area, on unused airport property to help generate revenue to support the airport's operation.

Historical airline jet service

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

AirlinesDestinations
Air Canada Express Toronto–Pearson
Bearskin Airlines Sudbury, Thunder Bay
Porter Airlines Toronto–Billy Bishop

Cargo

Airline Destination Fleet
FedEx Express Sudbury, Toronto Cessna 208 Caravan
SkyLink Express Hamilton, Sudbury Beechcraft 1900C Airliner

Operations

The Sault Ste. Marie airport has equipment to support instrument approaches for all-weather operation, and a Nav Canada control tower. Air Canada Express operates four daily roundtrip flights to Toronto Pearson International Airport using the Dash 8-400 and the Bombardier CRJ200. Porter Airlines operates two daily roundtrip flights to Toronto Billy Bishop Airport using the Dash 8-400. Sunwing Airlines seasonal winter charters operate every Thursday roundtrip flights to London International Airport to Juan Gualberto Gómez Airport (Varadero) using Boeing 737-800 aircraft.[2] Its runways are designed to handle medium-sized transport jets such as the Airbus A320, Airbus A319 and Boeing 737; operations to Sault Ste. Marie consist of Dash 8 aircraft, and, seasonally, of Boeing 737 jets.

The airport is classified as an airport of entry by Nav Canada and is staffed by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) on a call-out basis from the Sault Ste. Marie International Bridge. CBSA officers at this airport can handle aircraft with no more than 30 passengers.[3]

A new record number of 216,172 passengers travelled through the airport in 2018.[4]

General aviation operations

The airport hosts the flight-training campus for Sault College and the Sault Academy of Flight flying school, resulting in frequent training flights in the vicinity. The Sault Ste. Marie airport has frequent medevac, business aviation, and charter operations. It is a frequent stopping point for private pilots.

Ministry of Natural Resources Fire Management & Flight Training Centre

Sault Ste. Marie Airport is home to the Ministry of Natural Resources Fire Management Centre and Flight Training Centre. The 622-square-metre facility is the first of its kind in Ontario. It is equipped with one of the most advanced flight training devices available, which simulates the sights, sounds and motions of the Canadair CL-415 water bomber aircraft used to fight forest fires in Ontario.[5]

Statistics

Annual passenger traffic at YAM airport. See Wikidata query.
Annual passenger traffic[6]
Year Passengers
2010 118,932
2011 173,676
2012 184,705
2013 187,165
2014 198,092
2015 202,557
2016 212,493
2017 214,532
2018 216,172
2019 211,277
2020 46,327
2021 13,651

Incidents and Accidents

  • On September 13 2014, Air Canada Jazz Flight 7794, de Havilland Dash 8-100 (Registration C-GJMI), was climbing through 4000 feet out of Sault Ste Marie's runway 22 being cleared direct to DARID nav fix, when the crew observed a light aircraft, later identified by Canadian TSB as C-FANU, about 1000 feet above them and about 3nm ahead. The captain, pilot flying, stopped the climb at 4500 feet, when the crew observed the light aircraft to enter a steep descending turn towards them. The captain banked the aircraft 30 degrees to the left in order to avoid a potential collision, the separation reduced to 0 feet vertical and 350-450 feet of horizontal separation, the Dash 8 passed to the right of the light aircraft Clear of conflict the Dash continued the climb and landed safely in Toronto. No one was injured.[7]
  • On April 16 2023, Porter Airlines Flight 2691, a de Havilland Dash 8-400 (Registration C-CLQB) landed on Sault Ste Marie's runway 12 at 22:21 Local (02:21UTC Apr 17th) but overran the end of the runway and came to a stop on soft ground about 85 meters/280 feet past the end of the runway. There were no injuries, the aircraft sustained minor if any damage.[8]

See also

References

  1. ^ Sault Ste. Marie Airport: About the Airport
  2. ^ "WG374 (SWG374) Sunwing Flight Tracking and History".
  3. ^ Canada Flight Supplement. Effective 0901Z 16 July 2020 to 0901Z 10 September 2020.
  4. ^ "Sault airport sets passenger level record for June".
  5. ^ Ministry of Natural Resources Press Release
  6. ^ "Sault airport sets passenger level record for June".
  7. ^ Government of Canada, Transportation Safety Board of Canada (2015-01-07). "Air transportation safety investigation A14O0164 - Transportation Safety Board of Canada". www.tsb.gc.ca. Retrieved 2023-08-01.
  8. ^ Government of Canada, Transportation Safety Board of Canada (2023-06-27). "Air transportation safety investigation A23O0046 - Transportation Safety Board of Canada". www.tsb.gc.ca. Retrieved 2023-08-01.

External links