Gander International Airport - Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
N 48° 56.800 W 054° 34.500
21U E 677552 N 5424361
Gander International's heyday was in the 1940s to 1950s when it was a frequent stopover for planes needing to refuel between Europe and North America. It was also a major training ground during WWII.
Waymark Code: WMP8DD
Location: Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
Date Posted: 07/19/2015
Views: 3
Gander International's heyday was in the 1940s to 1950s when it was a frequent stopover for planes needing to refuel between Europe and North America. It was also a major training ground during WWII.
On January 11, 1938, the first airplane landed at Gander.
The airport became the main staging point for the movement of Allied aircraft to Europe during World War II. Gander’s location on the Great Circle Route made it an ideal wartime refuelling and maintenance depot for bombers flying overseas. In November 1940, Captain D.C.T. Bennett left Gander for Europe, leading the first fleet of seven Lockheed Hudson bombers across the Atlantic during the Battle of Britain. More than 20,000 North American-built fighters and heavy bombers would follow.
By the end of the war, Pan-American World Airways, Trans-World Airline, Trans Canada Airlines (later Air Canada), and British Overseas Airway Corporation (later British Airways) begin regular Atlantic air service through Gander. Gander handled 13,000 aircraft annually and a quarter million passengers, requiring a new $3 million terminal to be built and opened in June 19, 1959.
By the 1950s, Gander airport was one of the busiest international airports in the world, buoyed by transoceanic traffic.
The early 1960s saw a decline in and the arrival of the jet age. This led to a decrease in the use of Gander by these scheduled air carriers, since they now had the capability of flying the Atlantic without stops.
Today, technical stops remain a significant economic generator for the airport, especially with growth in the corporate/private jet market. In fact, twenty percent of business jets flying the North Atlantic stop at Gander.
Type: International
ICAO Airport Code: CYQX
IATA Airport Code: YQX
FAA Identifier: Not listed
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