Erik Nielsen Whitehorse International Airport is an airport of entry located in Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada. It is part of the National Airports System, and is owned and operated by the Government of Yukon. The airport was renamed in honour of longtime Yukon Member of Parliament Erik Nielsen on December 15, 2008. The terminal handled 294,000 passengers in 2012, representing a 94% increase in passenger traffic since 2002. By 2017, this number had risen to 366,000. Air North is based in Whitehorse. History Development In spring 1920, preparation for the arrival of the US Army Black Wolf Squadron (4 US DeHavilland DH-4s) began on Cyr's wood lot on the hill above Whitehorse. The area was cleared for a landing strip. This landing strip was used by Treadwell Mining and Yukon Airways and Exploration Co. in the mid/late 1920s. Expanded between 1940 and 1941 by the federal Department of Transport, it was transferred to the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) in 1942 as part of the Northwest Staging Route under the name of RCAF Station Whitehorse. It was closed in 1968 and the airfield resumed its status as a civilian airport. The airport is classified as an airport of entry by Nav Canada and is staffed by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). CBSA officers at this airport can handle aircraft with no more than 50 passengers; however, they can handle up to 225 if the aircraft is unloaded in stages. The airport has two fixed-base operators for fuel, limited aircraft maintenance facilities. The control tower operates from 7 a.m. – 9 p.m. local time, and the Whitehorse Flight Service Station provides Airport Advisory Service during the remaining hours. ARFF services are also provided 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In addition to scheduled commercial service, numerous small air charter operators and bush pilots use the airport and it serves as a major base for water bombers used in forest firefighting operations. The airport also controls Whitehorse Water Aerodrome, a float plane base on Schwatka Lake. The airport gained a nonstop transatlantic flight in May 1998, when an Air Transat Lockheed L-1011 landed from Frankfurt with German tourists aboard. By the summer of 2000, three airlines were flying between Whitehorse and Europe; Condor and Balair had inaugurated services to Frankfurt and Zürich, respectively. However, Air Transat's route to Germany did not return after this season. During the September 11 attacks,