Calgary International Airport is the third-busiest airport in Canada (as of December 2004) and the busiest in the province of Alberta, serving 8.8 million passengers in 2003. The airport is a major hub facility for Western Canada and is the home of Westjet Airlines as well as a secondary hub for Air Canada. There is also a secure U.S. Customs section of gates, so that the large number of U.S.-bound passengers get checked before even leaving Calgary.
Apron II is the main Cargo facility at the airport which can park up to four Boeing 747s. FedEx currently uses a facility on the south side of the airport but will be moving to Apron VII when the expansion is completed at the end of November 2004. Purolator has a facility in the northwest corner of the field adjacent to Apron VII. Apron VII can hold two Boeing 727s but will be able to park an additional three McDonnell-Douglas MD-11s for FedEx in November 2004.
General aviation
General aviation facilities are located on the south side of the field. These facilities include a Shell Aerocenter, an Esso Avitat, Calgary Flight Training, a customs building, and more.
Runways
16-34 12675 × 200 ft (3,863 × 61 m), asphalt (the longest runway in Canadian civil aviation)
10-28 8000 × 200 ft (2,438 × 61 m), asphalt
07-25 6200 × 150 ft (1,890 × 46 m), asphalt
There is also a plan to build a parallel runway east of the airport (16L-34R).
The length of Runway 16-34 can be attributed to the relatively high elevation of the airport (1084 m) and the need to support the largest passenger aircraft types (aircraft require more distance to takeoff at higher elevations, because of the reduced air density associated with altitude). Runway 16-34 is also listed as being a Space Shuttle emergency landing facility, the only one in Canada.
Construction
The Calgary International Airport is currently undergoing major upgrades and construction. The recent widening of Concourse C officially opened in December 2004. The B/C concourse will also be widened within the next year. The regional wing of the airport has also begun its phase of upgrades.
During the past couple of months the runways and taxiways have been improved and upgraded. Taxiway Hotel now connects concourse D with the main taxiway Charley which improves the traffic flow for Apron I.
Airport frequencies (MHz)
127.200 - ATIS
121.300 - Clearance Delivery
121.900 - Ground
118.400 - Tower
119.800 - Departures
125.900 - Arrivals
133.300 - Edmonton Center (Adjacent sector)
Concourses
The terminal has three concourses:
Concourse A
Air Canada (Canadian destinations: Edmonton, Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver)
Air Canada Jazz (Castlegar, Cranbrook, Edmonton, Grande Prairie, Kamloops, Kelowna, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Regina, Saskatoon, Victoria, Winnipeg)
Peace Air (Grande Prairie, Lloydminster, Medicine Hat, Red Deer)
Concourse B and C
Air Canada (United States and International destinations: Denver, Frankfurt, Houston Bush, Ixtapa, London Heathrow, Los Angeles International, Montego Bay, Phoenix, San Francisco, Varadero [Cuba])