Brantford Airport

Brantford Airport Brantford Municipal Airport
AMSL		815 ft / 248 m
Coordinates	43°07′57″N 080°20′29″W / 43.13250°N 80.34139°W / 43.13250; -80.34139
Website	www.BrantfordAirport.ca
Map
CYFD Location in Ontario
Runways
Direction Length Surface ft m 05/23 5,036 1,535 Asphalt 11/29 2,626 800 Asphalt 17/35 2,626 800 Asphalt
Source: Canada Flight Supplement[1]

Brantford Airport (ICAO: CYFD), also known as Brantford Municipal Airport, is a registered aerodrome located 4 nautical miles (7.4 km; 4.6 mi) west southwest of the City of Brantford, in the county of Brant, Ontario, Canada.

There is a single

Although the airport has never had scheduled air service, weekly charters fly students of the W. Ross Macdonald School home to Sudbury, Timmins, Trenton, Ottawa and Sault Ste. Marie.

The airport is classified as an

A public aerodrome was established at Brantford in 1929 (located at Fairview and King George streets). The airport opened at its present location on 11 November 1940 as No. 5 Service Flying Training School, a Royal Canadian Air Force British Commonwealth Air Training Plan airfield. The school closed on 3 November 1944.^[2] The aerodrome lands and management thereof remained in the hands of federal government until 27 April 1970 when the municipal government took over.^[3]In 2015, Sharpe published Wings Above the Skyline, a local history book that tells the story of No. 5 Service Flying Training School.^[4] 

The current terminal building was built in 1966.

The City of Brantford once looked at the possibility of closing the airport, but this move was widely opposed by local citizens, tenants, and users. In May 2007, Brantford City Council held a public forum to canvass views on the airport as a necessary service for the city. Many presentations made clear points that growing cities require airports as part of their fundamental infrastructure, to attract and retain corporate investment.

In January 2008, Brantford City Council voted unanimously to support the inclusion of $1.9 million in planned airport infrastructure upgrades in the city's Capital Plan for Fiscal 2008. That allowed for repaving the main runway and a second runway that was last paved in the 1940s. In 2004, 2009 and 2011, new rows of hangars were built, with plans for more in the future.

In 2023, a study was launched to help the airport build its vision for the future. Recommendations should be ready for local leadership by early 2024. Focuses will be on utilizing airport facilities more efficiently and being even more welcoming to general aviation pilots as other airports push smaller traffic away.^[3]

• 
  Main public area
• 
  Terminal building
• 
  Pilots beware!^{[clarification needed]}
• 
  EMB-500 refueling
• 
  Plaque for No. 5 SFTS

Facilities and aircraft

The airport has three runways, all paved with asphalt. Runway 5/23 is 5036 ft (1,535 m) long, and runways 11/29 and 17/35 both measure 2,626 ft (800 m) long.^[1] Services at the airport include fuel, both avgas and jet fuel, as well as aircraft maintenance and parking, a crew lounge, snooze rooms, and rental cars.^[5][6]

Accidents and incidents

• In August 2014, an experimental aircraft crashed near the airport.^[7]
• Early the next month, a small aircraft crashed while on approach to the airport, killing one pilot.^[8]
• On April 27, 2016, a Cessna 182 Skylane flipped over on the runway, injuring one pilot.^[9]
• A plane was found crashed on the runway in the morning of November 13, 2018, with two deceased occupants.^[10]

References