Erik Nielsen Whitehorse International Airport is the main airport for the Yukon province in the Northwest of Canada. It handeld 366,000 passengers in 2017 and is the homebase of Air North which operates amongst other things the Hawker Siddeley 748 . Next to Air North, the airport is served by Air Canada Express, Westjet (seasonal) and Condor (seasonal). Also a lot of general and light aviation is flying in and out of the airport. During the summer months you have a chance of seeing some military traffic, when the Canadian Army is practising in the area. Preserved outside the terminal building to the left is a Canadian Pacific Airlines DC-3 CF-CPY acting as a wind direction indicator.

Written by Maarten Dols – thanks to De Jeroen Stroes for providing pictures for spot 4. Last Update: Spring 2020

Rating
Movements
Airline Variety
Photo Locations
Weather
Airport Information
Runways
01/19	1798ft/548m – Asphalt
14R/32L	9500ft/2896m – Asphalt
14L/32R	5317ft/1621m – Asphalt
Terminals	Only 1 terminal building, used for all flights.
Spotting Information
Ladder	Yes for locations 2 and 4 we recommend 2-3 steps. Fence is not high.
Car/Public Transport	Yes, car needed to get to the terminal and spot 3 and 4. For spot 2 you can walk from the terminal along the fence to the north (long walk) or walk up the hill to the airport from Wheeler St.
Restrooms	Inside the terminal building but otherwise no real facilities around.
Drinks/Food	Opposite to the terminal building is a restaurant. The city is just around the corner with plenty of options.
Hotels	No one to recommend or with a special site. Opposite to the terminal building there are a few hotels/guest houses. The city is just around the corner with plenty of options.
Season	Recommended to go during the summer months, from May till September. During the winter temperatures drop way below freezing point, bad weather and snow makes spotting almost impossible. Also during summer you have much more daylight then during the short daylight times in the winter.
Runway Usage
01/19	Very short one and is rarely used if even at all.
14R/32L	Longest and widest runway and is used for all traffic from both directions, depending on the wind direction
14L/32R	Only used for light traffic

	Spot #1 – Terminal – Apron and runway 14R
WHERE	Park your car at the terminal. If you are standing in front of the terminal, walk the sidewalk to the left until you reach a little gravel patch with a light pole. No ladder needed as you have a free view.
WHAT	Taxiing traffic to and from the main ramp, aircraft parked on the ramp to the north of the terminal. Also aircraft coming in for landing on 14R
TIME	From about 1PM till sunset
MISC.	Restrooms inside the terminal and a restaurant across the terminal.
FOCAL LENGTH	24-400mm. B734 = 120mm; HS748 = 300mm; C130 = 100mm

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	Spot #2 – East side – Arrivals 14R and backtrack 14R
WHERE	Fastest way is to park your car at Wheeler St. and walk up the hill following the gravel path beginning at the end on Wheeler St. until you reach the perimiter fence of the airport. From there you can stroll along the fence to find a position you like. You can walk to this place from the terminal building via the north side of the airport, however this is a long way around on a dirt track and not recommended if you don’t enjoy a 30 minute or longer walk. You will need a small ladder (2-3 steps) to reach over the fence.
WHAT	Traffic arriving on 14R and backtracking the runway to the turnpad of 14R
TIME	From sunrise till about 1PM
MISC.	Nothing here, so take everything you need with you.
FOCAL LENGTH	100-400mm. B737 = 260mm; CRJ700 = 400mm; PC12 = 260mm

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	Spot #3 – Whitehorse Weigh Station – Arrivals 32L
WHERE	From the terminal, take a left onto the Alaska highway going south. Continue south until you see the Whitehorse Weigh Station to your right. Left of the station across the road is a gravel path where you can park your car and walk to the desired spot to take photo’s. You don’t need a ladder there.
WHAT	All arrivals on 32L. 32R is too far away as only small traffic lands there.
TIME	From about 4PM till sunset. Getting better towards sunset.
MISC.	Nothing nearby, so take everything you need with you.
FOCAL LENGTH	100-400mm. CRJ900 = 170mm

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	Spot #4 – Whitehorse Air Services – Runway 14R/32L, taxiway and maintenance and storage area
WHERE	From the terminal take a left onto the Alaska Highway going south until you reach the junction with Lodestar Ln. Take a left there. You can either keep going on Lodestar Ln. till the end (Alkan Air building) and park on the side of the road. Take a walk along the road to your left and all the way to the end to photograph the runway and taxiway. Or you can take a right onto Condor Rd. to photograph stuff parked along that road. At both roads a ladder (or pickup truck) is needed to reach over the fence.
WHAT	All traffic on 14R/32L and the taxiway running parralell to the runway. Also most of the GA and maintenance traffic can be photographed here.
TIME	For the runway and taxiway from 1PM till sunset. For GA and maintenance traffic parked here the whole day depending on the parking position.
MISC.	Nothing here, but you are fairly close to the terminal by car. If you need anything, take the car and go back to the terminal.
FOCAL LENGTH	Not known.

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