Grande Prairie Airport
Grande Prairie Airport (IATA: YQU, ICAO: CYQU) is a commercial airport located 3 nautical miles (5.6 km; 3.5 mi) west northwest of Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada. It is the largest airport in the Peace River Country of northwestern Alberta and northeastern British Columbia, having served 446,000 passengers in 2014 and 436,000 in 2015, ranking among the busiest regional airports in Canada.
Grande Prairie Airport | |||||||||||||||
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| Summary | |||||||||||||||
| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||||||
| Operator | Grande Prairie Airport Commission | ||||||||||||||
| Location | Grande Prairie, Alberta | ||||||||||||||
| Time zone | MST (UTC−07:00) | ||||||||||||||
| • Summer (DST) | MDT (UTC−06:00) | ||||||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 2,196 ft / 669 m | ||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 55°10′55″N 118°53′14″W | ||||||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||||||
CYQU Location in Alberta | |||||||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||||||
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| Statistics (2010) | |||||||||||||||
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The airport has seen passenger traffic growth due to the economic and population growth of the city. The terminal, originally built in 1981, has undergone extensive renovations which increased space, added a restaurant to the second floor, expanded the terminal to the south and added parking space. Further expansion added another gate, baggage carousel, and office space for customs use.
The airport is served by regional air carriers Air Canada Express and WestJet Encore, each with propjet flights to Edmonton and Calgary. Flair Airlines operated from the airport for one month before suspending service. The airport also sees charter traffic and additional traffic caused by the high density oil and gas industry in the area. The airport also serves the Royal Canadian Air Cadets Peace Region Gliding Program, who fly the Schweizer 2-33A glider off a winch launch set up.