Canadian airport designators explained

[Gilles Hudicourt]

I often wonder the history that is behind the Canadian IATA or ICAO airport designators.

Some are straightforward and obvious, like Baie Comeau which is YBC or CYBC.

But others, like my home base of Montreal, CYUL, are a mystery, at least to myself, as is CYYZ. If anyone knows the history behind any of the cryptic Canadian Airport designators, please share them here.

I will begin with two, that I know.

CYHR
Chevry, PQ, an airport on the Lower North Shore of the St-Lawrence Bay. It's origin is behind it's old name, which was Harrington Harbour, a village located on an island right across from Chevry. Was the old airport located on the island of Harrington Harbour ? I am not certain.

CYKL
Schefferville, PQ, is based on its old name, Knob Lake, which is a lake right next to the town. probably used by Sea Planes in the early days of the town in the fourties or fifties we the Iron Ore mining town was created

[switchflicker]

KORD. - Before the airport was moved, it was built on land that previously was an Orchard.

[AirFrame]

CYCD - The area around Nanaimo airport is called "Cassidy". I guess the airport was designated with the local area, but is now called Nanaimo as that's the largest nearby city...

[Taxivasion]

I believe YYZ was named after a famous Rush song who grew up in the area....hehe

[Antique Pilot]

I often wonder the history that is behind the Canadian IATA or ICAO airport designators.

Some are straightforward and obvious, like Baie Comeau which is YBC or CYBC.

But others, like my home base of Montreal, CYUL, are a mystery, at least to myself, as is CYYZ. If anyone knows the history behind any of the cryptic Canadian Airport designators, please share them here.

I will begin with two, that I know.

CYHR
Chevry, PQ, an airport on the Lower North Shore of the St-Lawrence Bay. It's origin is behind it's old name, which was Harrington Harbour, a village located on an island right across from Chevry. Was the old airport located on the island of Harrington Harbour ? I am not certain

CYKL
Schefferville, PQ, is based on its old name, Knob Lake, which is a lake right next to the town. probably used by Sea Planes in the early days of the town in the fourties or fifties we the Iron Ore mining town was created

YYZ was the original radio code for the village of Malton where PIA is located. There are other places in Canada where the airport code was taken from a local radio station.

Antique Pilot

[Siddley Hawker]

CYHR
Chevry, PQ, an airport on the Lower North Shore of the St-Lawrence Bay. It's origin is behind it's old name, which was Harrington Harbour, a village located on an island right across from Chevry. Was the old airport located on the island of Harrington Harbour ? I am not certain

There was never an airport on the island, a seaplane base only. When people began moving over to the mainland they called the place Cross River, but since there was already a Cross River in the Gaspésie, the village on the mainland was renamed for the seigneurie that had been accorded to le Sieur de Chevery in that area back in the 1500's. There used to be a NDB there that had YHR as the ident, so the airport became CYHR.

Blanc Sablon used to be BS when I first started flying down there in the '60's, and Baie Johan Beetz was BJ, but they were Northern Wings company idents. When the Benevolencies in Ottawa began installing floating docks and airstrips both idents were changed. I have no idea why St. Augustine - SA - became YIF.

[PointyEngine]

Any ideas where CYXY (Whitehorse) sprang from?

[Redneck_pilot86]

There was a post years back about this, the only one I remember is CYUL, stands for "unruly lot"

[frog]

In french only, sorry.
It looks reasonable.

http://proposmontreal.com/index.php/mais-pourquoi-yul/

[JohnnyHotRocks]

KORD. - Before the airport was moved, it was built on land that previously was an Orchard.

It was actually named for the nearby community of Orchard Place during WW2...not built on an orchard

[switchflicker]

I'll go along with that!!

[citruskelly]

Up here in Iqaluit, we are CYFB, which stands for Frobisher Bay.

Another airport close to us is in the tiny community of Kimmirut, CYLC. Town used to be called Lake Harbour (LC = lake?)

In western Nunavut, you'll find CYBB in Kugaaruk, which was once Pelly Bay.

Many northern communities returned to their Inuktitut names in 1999 with the creation of the Territory of Nunavut. Airport designators in Nunavut sometimes refer to their old English names pre-1999 era.

(As I'm writing this, METAR shows -24 celcius and NW winds gusting 27 KT. Stay warm my friends!)

[Gilles Hudicourt]

CYGR
Iles de la Madeleine goes by the name Grindstone

CYGW Kuujjuarapik Airport used to be called Great Whale

[Zaibatsu]

There are a very limited number of letter combinations which is why you get ones like CYXX for Abbotsford. I wouldn't read too much into it.

[Gilles Hudicourt]

There are a very limited number of letter combinations which is why you get ones like CYXX for Abbotsford. I wouldn't read too much into it.

Or CYYY for Mont-Joli

[NotDirty!]

Or CYYY for Mont-Joli

I thought that was what pilots say when they see Mont-Joli on their flight plan: "Why, Why, WHY?"

[ahramin]

In french only, sorry.
It looks reasonable.

http://proposmontreal.com/index.php/mais-pourquoi-yul/

So if I read that right, the author states that it's impossible for UL to be a choice of random letters and digs deep to prove his point by discovering that it wasn't random letters at all: YUL came from the Kirkland beacon which had the random letters UL.

That logic suits YUL anyway.

[Gilles Hudicourt]

In french only, sorry.
It looks reasonable.

http://proposmontreal.com/index.php/mais-pourquoi-yul/

So if I read that right, the author states that it's impossible for UL to be a choice of random letters and digs deep to prove his point by discovering that it wasn't random letters at all: YUL came from the Kirkland beacon which had the random letters UL.

That logic suits YUL anyway.

[ettw]

YPH Port Harrison/inukjuaq I believe.

ETTW