The West Kootenay Regional Airport, (Castlegar Airport) (IATA: YCG, ICAO: CYCG) is a small regional airport located 2 NM (3.7 km; 2.3 mi) south southeast of Castlegar, British Columbia. Owned and operated by the City of Castlegar, YCG has a 15,317 sq ft (1,423 m2) passenger terminal. Due to the mountainous terrain impinging on both runway approaches, there is no possibility of a straight-in approach. The airport is therefore certified for day operations only, and the glideslope on approach is set to a steep 5% rather than the standard 2.5%. The instrument approaches to Castlegar are considered among the most challenging of any in use at a commercial airport in North America. Currently (2011) the Dash-8s servicing the airport require minimums of 3400 foot cloud ceilings and three miles visibility (Jazz adds 100 feet and one mile to these minimums).
Castlegar airport is currently (as of 2006) developing departure procedures for night time operation, but as of 2010 the airport is certified for daytime operation only. Recently, a $1 M programme installed six beacons on the hills of the Columbia Valley that allow night-time take offs from the airport. It is expected this will only be used by air ambulances and medical traffic.
The airport is classified as an airport of entry by NAV CANADA and is staffed by the Canada Border Services Agency. The customs at CBSA officers at this airport currently can handle general aviation aircraft only, with no more than 15 passengers.
Selkirk College’s Aviation - Professional Pilot programme operates two Web-cams that depict current conditions.
Read more about West Kootenay Regional Airport: Airlines
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“But beauty vanishes; beauty passes;
However rare—rare it be;
And when I crumble, who will remember
This lady of the West Country?”
—Walter De La Mare (1873–1956)
“Airplanes are invariably scheduled to depart at such times as 7:54, 9:21 or 11:37. This extreme specificity has the effect on the novice of instilling in him the twin beliefs that he will be arriving at 10:08, 1:43 or 4:22, and that he should get to the airport on time. These beliefs are not only erroneous but actually unhealthy.”
—Fran Lebowitz (b. 1950)