Halifax International Airport (YHZ)

Halifax Airport is one of the most important air gateways in Canada. It handled just over 3.5 million passengers in 2011, and is therefore rated as the seventh busiest in the country. It’s official name is the Halifax Robert L. Stanfield International Airport, as it is named after a Premier of the Nova Scotia region, Robert Stanfield. The airport is also known by its IATA code of YHZ, and its ICAO code is listed as CYHZ. Halifax International is one of the best in the world for passenger facilities, having won several noteworthy awards, and offers various forms of ground transport options for its passengers. It is also served by a large number of important airline carriers.

The airport of Halifax International is located at One Bell Boulevard, in the area of Enfield, and in the Nova Scotia province of Canada. It is just east of the Shubenacadie Grand Lake, west of Tuft Lake and to the south of Elmsdale and Barney’s Brook. The airport is approximately 35km, or 22 miles north of downtown Halifax, or about a half an hour to forty-five minute drive from the city. The areas particularly nearby include Oldham, Goffs and Wellington, while further north is the city of Truro, and west of the airport is Windsor. Dartmouth is also south of Halifax Airport, since it is just five kilometres from Halifax, and the Dollar Lake Provincial Park is found to the east. Passengers can easily drive to the airport, as it is located just off the Veteran’s Memorial Highway, or the Highway 102. This road runs from Halifax to Truro, and is linked to the Highway 101 past Windsor, Wolfville and Kentville, to the Highway 118 to Dartmouth and to the Highway 103, that travels the south-western coastline of the region, from Halifax to Yarmouth. Passengers in their own vehicles have access to several parking areas at the airport, including the Parkade nearby the terminal building, the Exterior Car Park and the Park’N Fly Lot, for long-term parking.

The airport shuttle is known as the Airporter, and provides transport to passengers approximately every hour. It travels to a number of significant hotels in downtown Halifax, and in the alternative direction as well. A few long-distance bus services are also available. Taxis serve the airport, a journey costing approximately $50.00 to or from downtown Halifax, however, there is no train station on site for direct rail connections. Car hire companies are present at Halifax Airport for arriving passengers who would like to rent a car.

Halifax International can almost be considered as quite a ‘new’ destination, especially when compared to certain other Canadian airports, as it was only established in 1960. Up until this time, two other airports served the city. One was known as the Chebucto Field, in West End, Halifax, that closed in 1942, and the second was the RCAF Station Shearwater, that operated as the city’s primary air gateway up until 1960, when Halifax Airport was opened. The terminal building officially open on 10 September, 1960, and Trans-Canada Airways operated the first flight from the airport. Much improvements to the original terminal were made over the years. A duty free shop was established in 1969, and by 1976, 54,000 square feet of floor space had been added to the terminal. The total size of the terminal was now 290,000 square feet. An information desk was brought into service in 1977, a $2.5 million hold room opened in 1991, the south end of the terminal was expanded by 4,300 square fee in 1994 and a new control tower was opened in June, 1998. At the turn of the century, the HIAA, or Halifax International Airport Authority, took control of the management and operation of the airport, and also announced a multi-year improvement program for the facilities. Over the next years the airport would receive a new international arrivals area (2001), a renovated domestic arrival area (2002) and a larger main lobby retail area. In 2006, Halifax became one of the current eight Canadian airports with US border preclearance facilities, and in 2009, a new parkade was built, with five storeys and 2,300 parking spaces.

Further improvements to Halifax Airport will include the expansion of the domestic/international check-in area, a general expansion of the north end of the terminal building, an extension to one of the airport’s runways and a new hotel, which will be a fourteen-storey construction with 169 rooms. The ALT Hotel is scheduled to be built by Spring 2013. There is currently still one terminal building serving arriving and departing passengers. It has a total of 31 gates, 12 of which have air-bridges. Certain of the gates are multi-purpose, able to serve either domestic or international flights. The airport has two runways, both which are well over 2,000 metres in length. Halifax International Airport is also the headquarters of Jazz Aviation, and is one of the few sites along eastern America where the space shuttle could have landed should difficulties have been experienced during lift off.

The terminal building of Halifax International is fully equipped with all facilities required by arriving and departing passengers, and is completely accessible to disabled passengers. There are many airport shops and restaurants, pre-security and post-security, a Travelex foreign currency exchange kiosk, bank machines including a full-service Royal Bank of Canada ATM and wireless internet connections. There are also several children’s play areas, a chapel, a meeters/greeters booth, travel insurance and postal services, and a Visitor Information Centre. The airport currently has no meeting room facilities, but arrangements can be made at the nearby hotels, for example, the Quality Inn and the Hilton Garden Inn.

Canadian non-stop destinations available from Halifax International Airport, and by the airline companies of Air Canada, Porter Airlines and WestJet Airlines, include Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Hamilton, Calgary, Edmonton, St. John’s, Sydney, Moncton, Charlottetown, Gander, Frederiction and Deer Lake. A number of airline companies fly to the United States as well, to cities that include Boston, New York, Detroit, Atlanta, Washington, Chicago, Newark and Philadelphia. The airlines travelling to the US include US Airways, United Airlines, Delta Airlines and Air Canada. Additional international destinations from Halifax Airport include London, St. Pierre, Frankfurt and Reykjavik, by the airline companies of Air Canada, Air St. Pierre, Air Transat, Thomas Cook, Condor and Icelandair.

In 2011, Halifax International handled 3,594,164 passengers, which was a slightly higher figure than the previous year. Since 2004, the airport has handled over three million passengers per annum, with 2008, 2010 and 2011 over 3.5 million. Only greater numbers of passengers are expected in the years to come, and the improvement plan is in place to ensure the terminal remains of an adequate size, and has all the facilities to ensure efficient service.

Further information is available from information counters, and from the volunteers, who circulate the terminal. Halifax Airport may also be contacted at the following details: 902-873-4422, email - info@hiaa.ca.