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Founded | 1977 | ||||||
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Hubs | Whitehorse International Airport | ||||||
Focus cities | Vancouver, Dawson City | ||||||
Frequent-flyer program | None | ||||||
Airport lounge | Plaza Premium Lounge | ||||||
Alliance | None | ||||||
Fleet size | 12, 12 | ||||||
Destinations | 10 | ||||||
Parent company | Joseph Sparling | ||||||
Headquarters | Whitehorse, Yukon | ||||||
Key people | Joseph Sparling CEO and President |
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Website | www.flyairnorth.com |
Air North Charter and Training Ltd., operating as Air North, Yukon's Airline is a Canadian airline based in Whitehorse, Yukon. It operates scheduled passenger and cargo flights, charter flights, and ground handling services throughout the Yukon, with regular flights to the Northwest Territories, Alaska, British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario. Its main base is Erik Nielsen Whitehorse International Airport.
The airline was established by Joe Sparling and Tom Woods, and started flight training and general purpose charter operations in 1977 with a single Cessna 206. Throughout the 1980s the company steadily grew and acquired several more aircraft including Douglas DC-3s, a Douglas DC-4, and a variety of Cessnas, de Havillands and other aircraft. Also during the 1980s Air North began offering scheduled passenger and cargo service in addition to charter services. During the 1990s the fleet of piston-powered aircraft were replaced with more modern and reliable turboprop aircraft, and by 2000 the fleet consisted of one Beechcraft Model 99 and three Hawker Siddeley 748 Series 2As.
The Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation of Old Crow also began investing in Air North around this time, and with help from this investment Air North acquired a pair of Boeing 737-200 jets in 2002. These jets allowed Air North to begin competing with the mainline carriers between the Yukon and Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton. These routes proved to be successful and in recent years Kelowna, Yellowknife and Ottawa have also been added to Air North's route map. Since Air North began scheduled jet service on the Yukon-South routes passenger traffic at the Erik Nielsen Whitehorse International Airport has doubled, and in 2014 nearly 60% of those passengers flew with Air North.