In 1935, the Civil Aviation Branch of the Department of National Defence began a survey of an airway between Edmonton and Whitehorse by was of Fort St. John and Watson Lake. One of the aerodrome sites selected was Fort Nelson, and work on the airway began in 1941. With the entry of the United States into World War II, the airway took on a new importance as a staging route from Edmonton to Alaska; and a much larger construction program began in the spring of 1942, to meet US Air Force requirements. In 1943, American contractors assumed responsibility for the completion of the original program, including Fort Nelson Airport; and the airfield was constructed from 1940 to 1943. Using local timber the USAF produced some of the lumber used for the buildings in a nearby sawmill. The air base was handed over to the RCAF in 1947, when American improvements and buildings were purchased by Canada.
The RCAF Station population varied from one to three hundred. The airport was used as a staging and search and rescue base. In 1950, construction began on eighty-five narried quarters, which were completed by 1952, by which time the airport was a self-contained community complete with a hospital, school, theatre, clubs, skating rink, gymnasium, fire department, and stores.
The first Department of Transport presence on the site was an aeroradio station and weather office, established in the early 1940s. Canadian Pacific Airlines began operations in the area in 1942. The RCAF station officially disbanded on July 1, 1958, and all property, buildings, houses, and inventories were transferred to the Department of Transport on 16 October, 1958. Over the next several years, most of the military buildings were sold or demolished. The air traffic control tower and operations building were destroyed by fire in 1960 and replaced with a new terminal operations facility later the same year. In the mid-1960s, runway 03/21 was resurfaced and extended, Sixteen married quarters were sold and moved to the town of Fort Nelson.
The licence was issued on September 11, 1958, and today the airport has two runways: 07/25 at 4,068 feet and 03/21 at 6,400 feet. The airport is open on a twelve-hour a day basis with various services being provided either on an active or a stand-by basis.
Updated: April 15, 2005