History
The first site in Regina used for flying was the infield at Regina Exhibition Park's horse race track, where visiting barnstormer "Lucky Bob" St. Pierre (a Nebraskan whose real name was "Shaeffer" or "Shaffer") flew a Curtiss Model D biplane in August, 1911. A few other barnstormers, notably aviatrix Katherine Stinson of the famous aviation family, appeared in Regina and other prairie cities in the years thereafter, but there was virtually no other aviation activity in Western Canada during the First World War.
After the First World War, Reginan Roland Groome returned from military service as a flying instructor in Southern Ontario and, with partners, set up a company called the "Aerial Service Co." Its primitive airfield was located near what is the current intersection of Hill Avenue and Cameron Street in the city's southern Lakeview district. In May 1920, federal government regulators assigned this field the designation of Canada 's first licensed "air harbour". Groome also received Canadian commercial pilot's licence No. 1 and mechanic Robert McCombie was given air engineer's licence No. 1.
The present airport site was developed in 1928-30. A terminal building was built in 1940. Scheduled airline service was initially provided by Moose Jaw-based Prairie Airways (in 1938) and then Trans-Canada Air Lines (in 1939). A new terminal building was erected in 1960.
Major renovations to this terminal building were conducted in 1983-86. A $24-million expansion started in January 2004, increasing its capacity to 1.2 million passengers per year. The first stage of the expansion included the expansion of the terminal and includes a larger post-security holding room, another passenger loading bridge, an expansion to the international arrivals area and more baggage carousels. The first phase was completed in August 2005.
The second phase is now under way and includes further expansion for security services as well as facilities for new tenants such as stores and eating establishments (including a Tim Hortons). In 2009, construction began on two new jetways, one between gates 5 and 6, to the right of the glass atrium, and the other as an offshoot of gate 1. This is to keep up with airport demand and to further increase passenger comfort and safety in winter months.
On May 1, 1995, under the Canada-US Open Skies agreement, Northwest Airlines began service to Minneapolis – Saint Paul. United Express has since begun non-stop service to Chicago O'Hare and Denver. In 1996 WestJet began Boeing 737-200 service. Air Canada, which began scheduled service to Regina in early 1939, ended mainline service into Regina and six other medium-sized Canadian cities in October 2005, turning over these routes to its subsidiary Air Canada Jazz and its fleet of Canadair Regional Jets (CRJ). Mainline service to Toronto returned on November 2, 2008 using the Embraer E-190 aircraft.
Regina will be going through terminal renovations again to become a common use airport like Winnipeg and Las Vegas making it the third airport in North America to have this feature.
Read more about this topic: Regina International Airport
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