| Mont-Joli Airport | |
| Iata: | YYY |
| Icao: | CYYY |
| Wmo: | 71718 |
| Type: | Public |
| Operator: | Régie Intermunicipale |
| Location: | Mont-Joli, Quebec |
| Timezone: | EST |
| Summer: | EDT |
| Elevation-F: | 172 |
| Coordinates: | 48.6089°N -68.2081°W |
| Pushpin Map: | Canada Quebec#Canada |
| Pushpin Label: | CYYY |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in Quebec |
| Website: | aeroportmontjoli.com |
| R1-Number: | 06/24 |
| R1-Length-F: | 6,000 |
| R1-Surface: | Asphalt |
| R2-Number: | 15/33 |
| R2-Length-F: | 3,954 |
| R2-Surface: | Asphalt |
| Stat-Year: | 2010 |
| Stat1-Header: | Aircraft movements |
| Stat1-Data: | 5,798 |
| Footnotes: | Sources: Canada Flight Supplement Environment Canada[1] Movements from Statistics Canada[2] |
Mont-Joli Airport is located 1.5NM north northwest of Mont-Joli, Quebec, Canada. It is the only airport with scheduled service in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region.
In the summer of 1940 the Royal Canadian Air Force selected a flat area of farmland between Mont-Joli Station (on the Montreal-Halifax Canadian National Railway mainline) and the Saint Lawrence River for a military airfield. Construction on the aerodrome began in October 1941 and was completed by April 1942 at a cost of $200,000. Three paved runways and 50 buildings were constructed for what became known as RCAF Station Mont-Joli.
Inaugurated on April 15, 1942, RCAF Station Mont-Joli was a training base for the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan and hosted No. 9 Bombing and Gunnery School from 15 December 1941 until 14 April 1945.[3] RCAF Station Mont-Joli was used by RCAF Eastern Air Command during the Battle of the St. Lawrence as a coastal patrol base; during 1942–1944, Canadian cargo ships and warships were sunk by German U-boats in an effort to close the Saint Lawrence Seaway off to shipping. Aircraft staging out of Mont-Joli were among those used to ward off U-boats and ensure the safety of shipping to the eastern tip of the Gaspé Peninsula at Cap-Gaspé.
In approximately 1942 the aerodrome was listed at 48.6°N -80°W with a Var. 24 degrees W and elevation of 100feet. The aerodrome was listed as with three runways as follows:[4]
| Runway name | Length | Width | Surface | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6/24 | 5000feet | 150feet | 4000' paved | |
| 16/34 | 4600feet | 150feet | 4000' paved | |
| 2/20 | 5000feet | 150feet | 4300' paved |
RCAF Station Mont-Joli was decommissioned by the air force in 1945 and became the property of the Department of Transport (now Transport Canada) on December 15, 1945 for use as a civilian airport.
Its ownership was transferred again in 1995 to the "Régie intermunicipale de l’aéroport régional de Mont-Joli".
It is the busiest airport in eastern Quebec, though still very far from the Québec/Jean Lesage International Airport in Quebec City and Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport in Montreal.
In 2007 a second runway (15/33) was opened and runway 06/24 decreased in length from 6000feet to 5000feet. In 2017, runway 06/24 was once again extended to 6000feet, in order to accommodate the B737-800. Sunwing Airlines started flying that aircraft type from Mont-Joli to Punta Cana in December 2017.[5]
Air Canada indefinitely suspended its operations at Mont-Joli Airport in June 2020 due to the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada.[6]