Keewatin Air

Last updated
Keewatin Air
Kivalliq Air-Keewatin Air logo.png
C-FZPW Keewatin Air BE20 at Cambridge Bay Airport.jpg
IATA ICAO Callsign
FKKEW [1] BLIZZARD [1]
Founded1998
AOC # 782 [2]
Operating bases Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport [3]
Secondary hubs Churchill Airport,
Thompson Airport,
Cambridge Bay Airport,
Igloolik Airport,
Iqaluit Airport,
Rankin Inlet Airport,
Yellowknife Airport [3]
Fleet size25, [4] 9 (min) [5]
Parent company Exchange Income Corporation
Headquarters Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada [3]
Website https://www.keewatinair.ca/

Keewatin Air (IATA: FK) is an airline that operates from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. [3] The airline was started by Frank Robert May (who had been a pilot for Lamb Air) and his wife Judy Saxby in 1971, in the Keewatin Region, then part of the Northwest Territories. [6]

Contents

It was formed as "Keewatin Air Limited" to provide charter services to the region. It was the first airline to have a permanent base in Nunavut (then known as the Keewatin Region of the Northwest Territories). In 1987 it expanded to include medical evacuation (MEDEVAC) services, to what would become the Kivalliq Region, using a fleet of aircraft that began with a Tradewind aircraft - a multi-modified Beech 18 with a turbine engine and tricycle gear. This aircraft was followed by a Westwind, another modified Beech 18 with turbine engines and eventually these were replaced by Merlin IIA aircraft that had the added benefit of being pressurized and had turboprops. The MEDEVAC service is now known as "Nunavut Lifeline". [7] Currently[ when? ] three Kingair 200 aircraft are based in Rankin Inlet, one in Churchill, Manitoba. and two in Iqaluit, where the airline also bases a Lear 35 for the long hauls to Ottawa and a Pilatus PC-12 to access the short strips.

In 1998 the company formed Kivalliq Air to provide scheduled air service within the Kivalliq Region and to Winnipeg and Churchill. [8] That service has since been cancelled.

In 2005 the company was sold to Exchange Industrial Income Fund (now Exchange Income Corporation), owners of Perimeter Aviation, Bearskin Airlines and Calm Air. May and Saxby continued to manage the airline for a short period after the sale. [9]

Destinations

Charter services are available to destinations throughout North America. [10]

Fleet

As of February 2011 the following 24 aircraft were registered with Transport Canada and at least 9 listed with Keewatin Air. [5] [4]

Keewatin Air fleet
AircraftNo. of aircraft
Keewatin
No. of aircraft
TC
VariantsNotes
Beechcraft Super King Air 719 King Air 200/B200 12 are listed under the trade name Kivalliq Air Nunavut Lifeline. MEDIVAC (air ambulance). Four are listed as Model 200 and fifteen as Model B200
Cessna Citation V n/a4 Model 560, Model 560 Ultra 7-8 passengers. Not on Keewatin site.
Pilatus PC-12 n/a2 PC-12/45 air charter

Accidents and incidents

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First Air</span> Defunct Canadian airline

Bradley Air Services Limited, operating as First Air, was an airline headquartered in Kanata, a suburb of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It operated services to 34 communities in Nunavut, Nunavik, and the Northwest Territories. First Air has assisted in various humanitarian missions such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, airlifting relief supplies and equipment. Its main base, which included a large hangar, cargo and maintenance facility, was located at Ottawa Macdonald–Cartier International Airport, with hubs at Iqaluit Airport, and Yellowknife Airport. On November 1, 2019, the airline consolidated operations with Canadian North.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport</span> International airport serving Winnipeg, Canada

Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport is a Transport Canada designated international airport located in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It is the seventh busiest airport in Canada by passenger traffic, serving 3,031,113 passengers in 2022, and the 11th busiest airport by aircraft movements. It is a hub for passenger airlines Calm Air, Perimeter Airlines, Flair Airlines, and cargo airline Cargojet. It is also a focus city for WestJet. The airport is co-located with Canadian Forces Base Winnipeg.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helijet</span> Canadian airline

Helijet International is a helicopter airline and charter service based in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada. Its scheduled passenger helicopter airline services operates flights from heliports at Vancouver International Airport (YVR), downtown Vancouver, downtown Nanaimo and downtown Victoria. It also operates a charter division serving the film, television, aerial tour, industrial and general charter markets, as well as helicopter and jet air ambulance services. Its head office and main hangar is Vancouver International Airport (YVR).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bearskin Airlines</span> Canadian regional airline

Bearskin Lake Air Service LP, operating as Bearskin Airlines, is a regional airline based in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. It is a division of Perimeter Aviation and operates services in northern Ontario and Manitoba. Its main base is at Thunder Bay International Airport (YQT), with a hub at Greater Sudbury Airport (YSB).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nordair</span> Defunct regional airline of Canada (1947—1987)

Nordair was a Quebec-based airline in Canada founded in 1947 from the merger of Boreal Airways and Mont Laurier Aviation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Air Nunavut</span> Airline based in Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada

Air Nunavut, trading as Smooth Air, is an airline based in Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada. It is the only local and Inuit-owned air carrier in the eastern Arctic, operating MEDEVAC and charter services throughout Canada's Arctic, northern Quebec and Greenland. Its main base is Iqaluit Airport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Erik Nielsen Whitehorse International Airport</span> Airport in Yukon, Canada

Erik Nielsen Whitehorse International Airport is an airport of entry located in Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada. It is part of the National Airports System, and is owned and operated by the Government of Yukon. The airport was renamed in honour of longtime Yukon Member of Parliament Erik Nielsen on December 15, 2008. The terminal handled 294,000 passengers in 2012, representing a 94% increase in passenger traffic since 2002. By 2017, this number had risen to 366,000. Air North is based in Whitehorse.

Sanikiluaq Airport is located at Sanikiluaq, Nunavut, Canada, and is operated by the Government of Nunavut. It is one of the few airports in Nunavut that uses magnetic headings for the runway rather than true headings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Calm Air</span> Canadian airline servicing northern Manitoba and Nunavut

Calm Air International LP. is a full service airline, offering passenger, charter and freight services in northern Manitoba and the Kivalliq Region of Nunavut. It is owned by Exchange Income Corporation with its main base in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gimli Industrial Park Airport</span> Airport in near Gimli, Manitoba

Gimli Industrial Park Airport is a civilian airport and former military field located 2 nautical miles west of Gimli, Manitoba, Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rise Air</span> Airline in Saskatchewan, Canada

Rise Air is a scheduled and charter airline primarily serving the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. Its headquarters and main base was at Prince Albert.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Perimeter Aviation</span> Regional Canadian airline, based in Winnipeg

Perimeter Aviation is an airline with its head office on the property of Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Perimeter Aviation operates more than 30 aircraft on scheduled, charter, and medevac service. It was established and started operations in 1960. It operates scheduled passenger services from Winnipeg to 23 destinations, freight and MEDEVAC services. Its main base is Winnipeg International Airport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Keystone Air Service</span>

Keystone Air Service Ltd. was an airline that served Manitoba, Canada, with charter services to anywhere in North America. Keystone had been flying since 1985 and provided air charter service to as far north as Alert, Nunavut. In 2015 merged into Wings over Kississing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alkan Air</span> Canadian charter airline and air ambulance

Alkan Air Ltd. is an airline headquartered in Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada. The company operates seven-day-a-week charter and air ambulance (medevac) services. The Whitehorse and Mayo (seasonal) bases generally focus on wheel and floatplane charter and medevac services in northern and western Canada and Alaska. The Nanaimo, BC base provides charter and medevac services, focused primarily in western Canada, the western United States and Mexico. From 2016 to 2018, Alkan also operated scheduled flights between Erik Nielsen Whitehorse International Airport and Watson Lake Airport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lamb Air</span> Defunct Canadian airline, 1934–1981

Lamb Air Ltd. was a Canadian airline that began operations in 1934 in The Pas, Manitoba, and went out of business in 1981.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transair (Canada)</span>

Transair was an airline based in Canada. It was purchased by Pacific Western Airlines in 1979. Transair's operational headquarters was located at the Winnipeg International Airport in Manitoba.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern Thunderbird Air</span> Canadian charter airline and medevac service

Northern Thunderbird Air Inc or NT Air is a Canadian charter airline and medevac service based in Prince George, British Columbia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adlair Aviation</span> Charter airline of Canada

Adlair Aviation (1983) Ltd. is a family-owned charter airline in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, Canada. Adlair Aviation was established in 1983 by pilot Willy Laserich and his family. Adlair has bases at Cambridge Bay Airport and Yellowknife Airport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Propair</span> Charter airline at Rouyn-Noranda Airport in Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec, Canada

Propair Inc. is a charter airline with its headquarters and main base at the Rouyn-Noranda Airport in Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec, Canada. It operates charter and medevac flights and had a secondary base at Montréal–Trudeau International Airport, but it closed in July 2018.

References

  1. 1 2 "ICAO Designators for Canadian Aircraft Operating Agencies, Aeronautical Authorities and Services" (PDF). Nav Canada. 2023-05-04. p. 4. Retrieved 2023-02-26. Keewatin Air: KEW, BLIZZARD
  2. Transport Canada (2019-09-02), Civil Aviation Services (CAS) AOC. wwwapps.tc.gc.ca.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Company Bases
  4. 1 2 "Canadian Civil Aircraft Register: Quick Search Result for Keewatin Air". Transport Canada . Retrieved 2019-09-02.
  5. 1 2 Keewatin Air fleet
  6. May Family History
  7. Nunavut Lifeline
  8. Kivalliq Air Archived 2006-11-01 at the Wayback Machine
  9. CBC News - Keewatin Air sold to southern interests
  10. Charter Services
  11. "Chartered plane crashes in northern Canada, killing baby". BNO News. 23 December 2012. Archived from the original on 18 January 2013. Retrieved 23 December 2012.