Red Lake Airport (YRL)

Red Lake Airport holds extraordinary aviation history as the world's busiest airport during 1936-1937, when aircraft landed at 15-minute intervals on Howey Bay waters transporting prospectors and supplies to the legendary gold rush that attracted 3,000 fortune seekers to this remote northwestern Ontario wilderness. Located 3 nautical miles north of Red Lake and 1 kilometer south of Cochenour, this facility evolved from its original 1926 float and seaplane base to support what became the 'High-Grade Gold Capital of the World,' producing over 29 million ounces from deposits averaging two ounces per tonne.

The modern airport features a 5,001-foot asphalt runway equipped with precision approach lighting and PAPI guidance systems, supporting four airlines that make Red Lake a mini-hub for over twenty northern fly-in communities. Wasaya Airways connects remote First Nations including Pikangikum, Deer Lake, and Keewaywin using Cessna Caravans, while Bearskin Airlines provides 28 weekly departures to Winnipeg and Sioux Lookout with Metroliners and Beech 1900s, North Star Air serves cargo and charter needs, and Superior Airways maintains essential northern connections.

Operational characteristics center on supporting Evolution Mining's Red Lake operations (acquired from Newmont Goldcorp in 2019) which integrated the Campbell, Red Lake, Cochenour, and Balmer complexes producing 414,400 ounces annually from the legendary High Grade Zone. The facility serves as Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources' firefighting base protecting vast boreal forests, supports helicopter logging and mineral exploration across the region's greenstone belts, and maintains critical medical evacuation capabilities for communities where winter temperatures plunge below -40°C.

Strategic importance encompasses preserving access to claims originally staked in 1925 by Ray and Lorne Howey and George McNeely that launched Canada's last great gold rush, supporting modern mining operations that have extracted over $20 billion in gold since commercial production began at Howey Mine, maintaining essential services for Indigenous communities across northwestern Ontario's roadless wilderness, and continuing the aviation legacy of a remote bay that once handled more air traffic than any airport on Earth during the frenzied gold rush years.