Aviation View | Volume 2, Issue 1

143 AVIATION VIEW VOLUME 2, ISSUE 1 “Fort St. John is located in northeastern British Columbia,” explains Mike Karsseboom, Managing Director of North Peace Airport Services, “so we are probably more like what people imagine when they think of northern Alberta. When you think of BC, you think of mountains, but we are flat with a lot of trees. Our airport sees its most use right now from the natural resource industries. We have a lot of business travel bringing workers in and out for natural gas, oil, and we have a very large hydro dam project just south of the city that is under construction currently.” Although mostly operating as a commercial airport, North Peace Regional (YXJ) also functions as a general aviation and corporate airport. It has two runways – runway 12/30 is 6,909 by 150 ft, while runway 03/21 is 6,698 by 150 ft. “We have a little bit of everything,” Karsseboom reports. “Commercial is at the center economically, but we also have a thriving general aviation community. We also have a NORTH PEACE REGIONAL A I RPORT flying school, Canadian Flight Centre, and our fuel services are provided by Executive Flight Centre. Maintenance and de-icing is taken care of by Rotech Maintenance, and North Caribou Air and Strategic Aviation do charter flights.” There are even two places serving food at the airport – Fuel Services’ Spicy Fusion and Cool Beans. North Caribou is the official Fixed Base Operator (FBO). YXJ has come a long way from where it was in 1942, when it was listed as a Royal Canadian Air Force Aerodrome under construction, with four runways all 200 feet or less. It would not be long though until Canadian Pacific Air Lines and its successors CP Air and Canadian Airlines operated scheduled passenger service out of the airport to Vancouver, Edmonton, Prince George, Whitehorse, Fort Nelson, and Grande Prairie. Today, North Peace Regional is operated by Vantage Airport Group, a global airport investor, developer, and manager, through a long-term