Stephenville Airport
Encyclopedia
Stephenville International Airport is an airport
located 1.5 NM southeast of Stephenville
, Newfoundland and Labrador
, Canada
. It was built by the United States Air Force
and operated as Ernest Harmon Air Force Base
from 1941-1966.
The airport serves not only the town of Stephenville, but the city of Corner Brook to the north, and as far south as Port aux Basques
, making the total catchment 90,000 people.
The airport is classified as an airport of entry
by NAV CANADA
and is staffed by the Canada Border Services Agency
.
obtained rights to construct a United States Army Air Forces
base in the St. George's Bay area of Newfoundland
. The U.S. 76th Congress
approved the 99 year lease and in April 1941, construction began.
The USAAF base was originally referred to as Stephenville Air Base. However after the USAAF became the United States Air Force in 1947, it was renamed Ernest Harmon Air Force Base on June 23, 1948, in honour of Captain Ernest Emery Harmon. Harmon was a US Army Air Corps
ace
who was killed in an air crash in 1933.
On September 1, 1943, the Newfoundland Base Command transferred control of Harmon Field to the North Atlantic Wing, Air Transport Command. The base became a part of the Northeast Air Command
in October, 1950. Then in April 1957, the Strategic Air Command
assumed control.
The mandate of the base was to maintain a tanker
alert force and its capability to meet and refuel Strategic Air Command jet bomber
s en route to targets. The KC-97 Stratotanker
was employed in this task.
The base was also used as a refueling stop for transatlantic
military flights. In addition, Harmon supported three Air Defense Command units. In 1957, the Canadian Department of Transportation
constructed an airport terminal
to accommodate Trans-Canada Air Lines
(now Air Canada
). 1966 saw the closure of the U.S. Air Force Base in Stephenville.
The airport is now owned and operated by the local Airport Authority, the Stephenville Airport Corporation Inc. Stephenville Airport was officially designated as an alternate in the Trans Oceanic Plane Stop (TOPS) program on 23 July 1970.
Since the late 1990s, Stephenville has been designated as one of five Canadian airports suitable as an emergency landing site for the Space Shuttle
.
On 1 April 1990 the airport was further designated for alternate use, fueling only, by international scheduled air transport and for international general aviation
regular use.
in the wake of the terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, DC. An unwitting participant in Operation Yellow Ribbon
, the town managed to host the near 3,000 stranded passengers, which lasted for approximately one week.
, as part of Memorial University, the largest university in Atlantic Canada, training courses developed by the SERT Centre are subject to rigorous academic scrutiny. The majority of courses delivered at the Centre are also accredited or approved by national and international regulatory and other external approving agencies. A team of qualified, experienced instructors and modern training equipment assures the quality of training delivery. Additionally, the SERT Centre is part of the Marine Institute, which is an ISO 9001 accredited training organization, and subject to regular audits and is based at the Stephenville International Airport.
designated as an alternate landing site for the Space Shuttle
orbiter.
Airport
An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...
located 1.5 NM southeast of Stephenville
Stephenville, Newfoundland and Labrador
Stephenville is a Canadian town in Newfoundland and Labrador on the west coast of the island of Newfoundland....
, Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada. Situated in the country's Atlantic region, it incorporates the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador with a combined area of . As of April 2011, the province's estimated population is 508,400...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. It was built by the United States Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
and operated as Ernest Harmon Air Force Base
Ernest Harmon Air Force Base
Ernest Harmon Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force base located in Stephenville, Newfoundland and Labrador. The base was built by the United States Army Air Forces in 1941 under the Destroyers for Bases Agreement with the United Kingdom....
from 1941-1966.
The airport serves not only the town of Stephenville, but the city of Corner Brook to the north, and as far south as Port aux Basques
Channel – Port aux Basques
Channel-Port aux Basques is a town at the extreme southwestern tip of the island of Newfoundland fronting on the eastern end of the Cabot Strait. A Marine Atlantic ferry terminal is located in the town which is the primary entry point onto the island of Newfoundland and the western terminus of...
, making the total catchment 90,000 people.
The airport is classified as an airport of entry
Airport of Entry
An airport of entry is an airport that provides customs and immigration services for incoming flights. These services allow the airport to serve as an initial port of entry for foreign visitors arriving in a country.-Africa:-Americas:-Asia:...
by NAV CANADA
NAV CANADA
Nav Canada is a privately run, not-for-profit corporation that owns and operates Canada's civil air navigation system .The company employs approximately 2,000 air traffic controllers , 800 flight service specialists and 700 technologists...
and is staffed by the Canada Border Services Agency
Canada Border Services Agency
The Canada Border Services Agency is a federal law enforcement agency that is responsible for border enforcement, immigration enforcement and customs services....
.
Catchment
Stephenville International Airport provides scheduled and charter air service to a catchment population of approximately 90,000 people, from the city of Corner Brook 65 km to the north to the town of Port aux Basques 120 km (74.6 mi) to the south.History
In 1941 the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
obtained rights to construct a United States Army Air Forces
United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II, and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force....
base in the St. George's Bay area of Newfoundland
Dominion of Newfoundland
The Dominion of Newfoundland was a British Dominion from 1907 to 1949 . The Dominion of Newfoundland was situated in northeastern North America along the Atlantic coast and comprised the island of Newfoundland and Labrador on the continental mainland...
. The U.S. 76th Congress
76th United States Congress
The Seventy-sixth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1939 to January 3, 1941, during the seventh and...
approved the 99 year lease and in April 1941, construction began.
The USAAF base was originally referred to as Stephenville Air Base. However after the USAAF became the United States Air Force in 1947, it was renamed Ernest Harmon Air Force Base on June 23, 1948, in honour of Captain Ernest Emery Harmon. Harmon was a US Army Air Corps
United States Army Air Corps
The United States Army Air Corps was a forerunner of the United States Air Force. Renamed from the Air Service on 2 July 1926, it was part of the United States Army and the predecessor of the United States Army Air Forces , established in 1941...
ace
Flying ace
A flying ace or fighter ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down several enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The actual number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an "ace" has varied, but is usually considered to be five or more...
who was killed in an air crash in 1933.
On September 1, 1943, the Newfoundland Base Command transferred control of Harmon Field to the North Atlantic Wing, Air Transport Command. The base became a part of the Northeast Air Command
Northeast Air Command
The Northeast Air Command was a short-lived organization in the United States Air Force tasked with the operation and defense of air bases in Greenland, Labrador and Newfoundland. It was formed in 1950 from the facilities of the United States established during World War II in Northeast Canada,...
in October, 1950. Then in April 1957, the Strategic Air Command
Strategic Air Command
The Strategic Air Command was both a Major Command of the United States Air Force and a "specified command" of the United States Department of Defense. SAC was the operational establishment in charge of America's land-based strategic bomber aircraft and land-based intercontinental ballistic...
assumed control.
Aerial refueling
Aerial refueling, also called air refueling, in-flight refueling , air-to-air refueling or tanking, is the process of transferring fuel from one aircraft to another during flight....
alert force and its capability to meet and refuel Strategic Air Command jet bomber
Bomber
A bomber is a military aircraft designed to attack ground and sea targets, by dropping bombs on them, or – in recent years – by launching cruise missiles at them.-Classifications of bombers:...
s en route to targets. The KC-97 Stratotanker
KC-97 Stratotanker
The Boeing KC-97 Stratotanker was a United States strategic tanker aircraft based on the Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter. It was succeeded by the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker.-Design and development:...
was employed in this task.
The base was also used as a refueling stop for transatlantic
Transatlantic flight
Transatlantic flight is the flight of an aircraft across the Atlantic Ocean. A transatlantic flight may proceed east-to-west, originating in Europe or Africa and terminating in North America or South America, or it may go in the reverse direction, west-to-east...
military flights. In addition, Harmon supported three Air Defense Command units. In 1957, the Canadian Department of Transportation
Transport Canada
Transport Canada is the department within the government of Canada which is responsible for developing regulations, policies and services of transportation in Canada. It is part of the Transportation, Infrastructure and Communities portfolio...
constructed an airport terminal
Airport terminal
An airport terminal is a building at an airport where passengers transfer between ground transportation and the facilities that allow them to board and disembark from aircraft....
to accommodate Trans-Canada Air Lines
Trans-Canada Air Lines
Trans-Canada Air Lines was a Canadian airline and operated as the country's flag carrier. Its corporate headquarters were in Montreal, Quebec...
(now Air Canada
Air Canada
Air Canada is the flag carrier and largest airline of Canada. The airline, founded in 1936, provides scheduled and charter air transport for passengers and cargo to 178 destinations worldwide. It is the world's tenth largest passenger airline by number of destinations, and the airline is a...
). 1966 saw the closure of the U.S. Air Force Base in Stephenville.
The airport is now owned and operated by the local Airport Authority, the Stephenville Airport Corporation Inc. Stephenville Airport was officially designated as an alternate in the Trans Oceanic Plane Stop (TOPS) program on 23 July 1970.
Since the late 1990s, Stephenville has been designated as one of five Canadian airports suitable as an emergency landing site for the Space Shuttle
Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons...
.
On 1 April 1990 the airport was further designated for alternate use, fueling only, by international scheduled air transport and for international general aviation
General aviation
General aviation is one of the two categories of civil aviation. It refers to all flights other than military and scheduled airline and regular cargo flights, both private and commercial. General aviation flights range from gliders and powered parachutes to large, non-scheduled cargo jet flights...
regular use.
Future development of routes, "Taking Flight"
The Newfoundland and Labrador government's new plan, called Taking Flight, hopes to enhance air travel in the province by working closely with airports and airlines. For the airlines, if they create a new route the government can give it up to $750,000 to help promote that route.Operation Yellow Ribbon
On September 11, 2001, 8 civilian airliners made unscheduled landings at the Stephenville Airport following the closure of North American airspaceAirspace
Airspace means the portion of the atmosphere controlled by a country above its territory, including its territorial waters or, more generally, any specific three-dimensional portion of the atmosphere....
in the wake of the terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, DC. An unwitting participant in Operation Yellow Ribbon
Operation Yellow Ribbon
Operation Yellow Ribbon was commenced by Transport Canada to handle the diversion of civilian airline flights in response to the September 11 attacks in 2001. Canada’s goal was to ensure that potentially destructive air traffic be removed from U.S. airspace as quickly as possible, and away from...
, the town managed to host the near 3,000 stranded passengers, which lasted for approximately one week.
Airlines and destinations
Safety and Emergency Response Training Centre (SERT)
Marine Institute of Memorial University of NewfoundlandMarine Institute of Memorial University of Newfoundland
The Marine Institute of Memorial University of Newfoundland, popularly referred to as the Marine Institute or simply Marine, is a post-secondary ocean and marine polytechnic located in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada...
, as part of Memorial University, the largest university in Atlantic Canada, training courses developed by the SERT Centre are subject to rigorous academic scrutiny. The majority of courses delivered at the Centre are also accredited or approved by national and international regulatory and other external approving agencies. A team of qualified, experienced instructors and modern training equipment assures the quality of training delivery. Additionally, the SERT Centre is part of the Marine Institute, which is an ISO 9001 accredited training organization, and subject to regular audits and is based at the Stephenville International Airport.
Services
- Budget Rent a CarBudget Rent a CarBudget Rent a Car System, Inc. is an American car rental company that was founded in 1958 in Los Angeles, California by Morris Mirkin. Budget's operations are headquartered in Parsippany-Troy Hills Township, New Jersey....
- National Car RentalNational Car RentalNational Car Rental is a rental car company based in Clayton, Missouri. National was founded by 24 independent rental car agents on August 27, 1947...
- Eddy's bus service
- DRL CoachlinesDRL CoachlinesDRL Coachlines is a motor coach bus company operating in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador.Wholly owned by DRL Group of Triton, NL, the bus company provided charter services before taking over CN Roadcruiser services on the island of Newfoundland in 1996.-Inter-city service:*...
(passenger bus service to the rest of NL) - Atlantic Escapes Travel agency
- Airport check-inAirport check-inAirport check-in uses service counters found at commercial airports handling commercial air travel. The check-in is normally handled by an airline itself or a handling agent working on behalf of an airline...
counter service - Deb's Airport Cafe
- ATMAutomated teller machineAn automated teller machine or automatic teller machine, also known as a Cashpoint , cash machine or sometimes a hole in the wall in British English, is a computerised telecommunications device that provides the clients of a financial institution with access to financial transactions in a public...
cash machine - Ground transportation to and from hotels
- Passenger lounge
- Lav, water, ground power, stairs, air start and ground handling equipment available to service aircraft up to a Boeing 747Boeing 747The Boeing 747 is a wide-body commercial airliner and cargo transport, often referred to by its original nickname, Jumbo Jet, or Queen of the Skies. It is among the world's most recognizable aircraft, and was the first wide-body ever produced...
Alternate space shuttle landing site
Stephenville Airport is one of a five of sites along eastern CanadaCanada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
designated as an alternate landing site for the Space Shuttle
Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons...
orbiter.
External links
- Airport Website
- Page about this airport on COPA'sCanadian Owners and Pilots AssociationThe Canadian Owners and Pilots Association is a federally registered not-for-profit association that provides information and advocacy services for Canadian pilots who fly for non-commercial purposes...
Places to Fly airport directory