Military air base operations The
Royal Air Force (RAF) constructed the airfield at the strategic location of Comox in spring 1942.
RAF Station Comox was built to guard against any possible threat from the
Imperial Japanese Navy to North America. In approximately 1942, the aerodrome was listed as
RCAF Aerodrome - Comox, British Columbia at with no listed variation or elevation. The aerodrome was listed as "Under construction - Serviceable" with two runways as follows: In 1943, the RCAF took over control of the airfield, renaming the facility
RCAF Station Comox. The RCAF used Comox for training crews of transport aircraft for the rest of
World War II, basing a training squadron flying the
Douglas Dakota in 1944. From 1946 until 1952, the base was mothballed until tensions resulting from the
Korean War and
Cold War prompted reactivation and the establishment of a permanent RCAF base on Canada's Pacific coast. The
407 Long Range Patrol Squadron initially used the
Avro Lancaster then
Lockheed P2V-7 Neptune, followed by the
Canadair CP-107 Argus and now the
Lockheed CP-140 Aurora. The
409 Tactical Fighter Squadron was equipped with the
Lockheed T-33 and
Avro Canada CF-100 Canuck, followed by the
McDonnell CF-101 Voodoo, an example of which can be found on display at the main entrance of 19 Wing. In 1954, Comox became home to a
Pinetree Line radar early-warning station, operated by the 51 Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron (radar). This facility was closed in June 1958 with the advent of more advanced radar systems such as the
Mid-Canada Line and the
Distant Early Warning Line (DEW Line). In 1964,
RCAF Station Sea Island near
Vancouver International Airport was closed and turned over to the
Canadian Coast Guard. Sea Island's 121 Composite Unit moved to Comox and was reorganized as
442 Transport and Rescue Squadron, flying the
Grumman HU-16 Albatross fixed-wing and
Piasecki H-21 helicopter, later re-equipping with the
CH-113 Labrador and
de Havilland Canada DHC-5 Buffalo. The Labrador helicopter was replaced with the
AgustaWestland CH-149 Cormorant starting in 2001. On February 1, 1968, the
RCAF merged with the
Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) and
Canadian Army to form the unified
Canadian Armed Forces. RCAF Station Comox was renamed
Canadian Forces Base Comox, shortened to
CFB Comox. During a 1975 reorganization of the Canadian Forces,
Air Command (AIRCOM) was created to operate the air element. After CFB Comox began sharing the airport with scheduled airlines and other civilian aircraft, a
Boeing 747 flown by
Northwest Airlines became the first
jumbo jet to operate into the field when it made an emergency landing there on June 5, 1979. The flight, chartered by the U.S. military to transport 368 active duty personnel and their families from
Travis Air Force Base to Japan and South Korea, was over
Cape Scott following an intermediate stop at
Seattle–Tacoma International Airport when fire broke out in one of the aircraft's engines. Efforts to extinguish the flames were unsuccessful; the crew declared an emergency and requested permission to land on the runway at CFB Comox. Though no flames were visible, the fire warning light was still flashing in the cockpit as the plane landed. There were no injuries to the passengers or to the 13 crew members. Base officials, practised at hosting large numbers of Canadian Forces personnel, ensured that the plane's occupants were comfortable while awaiting a new aircraft to carry them to their destinations. In 1980, 407 Squadron began re-equipping with the Lockheed CP-140 Aurora. In 1984, 409 Squadron moved from CFB Comox to
CFB Cold Lake leaving the base with the duties of coastal patrol,
anti-submarine and transport missions, and
search and rescue (SAR) missions. In 1989, a strike force of
United States Air Force deployed
Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers from the
Washington Air National Guard to CFB Comox as part of the annual
Global Shield Exercise. The deployment, which included vehicles, equipment and armed personnel arriving by landing craft at a local beach, prompted some locals to ask whether the United States was invading Canada.
Commercial airline service During the late 1950s,
Pacific Western Airlines was serving the airfield with nonstop and one-stop direct flights to Vancouver operated with
Douglas DC-3 aircraft with the one-stop service being flown via
Campbell River, British Columbia. By the early 1960s, the airline had expanded their DC-3 service with nonstop flights to
Port Hardy as well. Pacific Western then introduced turboprop service with the
Convair 640 (which the airline called the "Javelin Jet-Prop") and was continuing to operate nonstop flights to Vancouver, Port Hardy, and Campbell River during the late 1960s. The airline then began operating jet service into the airfield with the
Boeing 737 and in 1975 was operating two nonstop 737 flights a day to Vancouver. Pacific Western would continue to serve Comox with
Boeing 737-200 jet flights through the mid-1980s by which time the air carrier had become an all-jet airline. By 1995, the airfield no longer had jet service with flights to Vancouver being operated by either
Air BC flying
Air Canada Connector
codeshare service with
De Havilland Canada Dash 8 turboprops or by
Time Air operating
Canadian Airlines Partner codeshare service with Dash 8 and
Short 360 turboprops. According to the
Official Airline Guide (OAG), Air BC and Time Air were operating a combined total of ten round trip nonstop flights on weekdays between Comox and Vancouver at this time. In 2003, the public airport terminal received a complete renovation, increasing the flow of people through the terminal by an average of nearly 400 people per day, as well as building a customs area. In the early 2000s
Air Transat and
Sunwing Airlines were flying to Mexico during the winter months, but discontinued service about a decade ago. In April 2012, a
Boeing 777 operated by
Korean Air made an emergency landing at Comox after the airline received a bomb threat. The flight was diverted to the airbase at escorted by
F-15 Eagle fighter jets from the
US Air Force that had been scrambled from Portland, Oregon. Korean Air Flight 72, with 149 people on board, had taken off from Vancouver International Airport headed for Seoul, South Korea, at 2:30 p.m. PT Tuesday. The crew turned back off the north coast of B.C. after a bomb threat was made in a telephone call. it was one of the largest passenger airliners to fly into Comox.
Military use CFB Comox is the RCAF's primary air defence installation on Canada's
Pacific coast and serves as the home base for
maritime patrol / anti-submarine aircraft and
search and rescue (SAR) aircraft, both
fixed-wing and
rotary-wing . Its primary lodger unit, 19 Wing, has the following operational squadrons: •
407 Long Range Patrol Squadron flying the
Lockheed CP-140 Aurora •
442 Transport and Rescue Squadron flying the
CC-295 Kingfisher fixed-wing aircraft and
AgustaWestland CH-149 Cormorant rotary-wing aircraft •
418 Search and Rescue Operational Training Squadron flying the
CC-295 Kingfisher. 19 Wing also includes the 19 Air Maintenance Squadron, and a number of other organizations. CFB Comox is the location of the Canadian Forces School of Search and Rescue, where all para-rescue specialists in the Canadian Forces, known as Search And Rescue Technicians or "SAR Techs", undergo training. CFB Comox serves as a forward operating base for temporary deployments of the
McDonnell Douglas CF-18 Hornet fighter-interceptor. Every April, the
Snowbirds practice at 19 Wing Comox. CFB Comox is used by the
Royal Canadian Air Cadets for glider and powered flight training, training glider pilots on
Schweizer SGS 2-33A's and housing the cadets training on
Cessna 182's respectively in the summer months. Training for the Advanced Aviation Air Cadet Course is also hosted at CFB Comox. An annex of CFB Comox, Annex A "Goose Spit", is used by the
Royal Canadian Sea Cadets for
CTC HMCS Quadra where 600 sea cadets undergo training in the basic trades of music (combined with
Army and Air cadets), gunnery,
boatswain, and sail. It also trains cadets in three specialty trades;
marine engineering,
shipwright, and
Silver Sail. The annex is also host to the local Canadian Forces Sail Association. CFB Comox is planned to be one of the two Canadian bases operating
armed drones in the late 2020s, the other being
CFB Greenwood in
Nova Scotia.
Civilian use CFB Comox shares the airfield with a civilian terminal for commercial flights;
WestJet and
Pacific Coastal Airlines have been serving the airport since 2000,
Air Canada has been serving the airport off and on from 2000-2008 then from 2015 to present.
Flair Airlines started service in 2022. The base hosts a biennial
air show (although not held from 2005 to 2012, or 2015 to 2024) to celebrate
Canadian Forces Day. The base is also home to the
Comox Air Force Museum which features several aircraft and other historical exhibits. The base is a primary employer in the
Comox Valley. ==Comox Airport (YQQ)==