Edmonton City Centre Airport 3.66

Edmonton City Centre Airport , was located within the city of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was bordered by Yellowhead Trail to the north, Kingsway to the south, 121 Street to the west, and the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology and Jefferson armouries to the east. It encompassed approximately of land just north of the Edmonton city centre. The airport was originally named for former mayor Kenneth Alexander Blatchford, then was known as the Edmonton Municipal Airport, then as Edmonton Industrial Airport and then as Edmonton City Centre Airport, finally ending as Blatchford Field at Edmonton City Centre Airport. In all cases, the three letter "YXD" code continued to be used for the airport by all of the airlines serving the airfield over the years.The airport was closed in November 2013 and has been redeveloped for housing.HistoryThe airport has a rich aviation history, being the first licensed airfield in Canada (1929). Characters such as Wop May, a World War I fighter ace and bush pilot, helped pioneer aviation in Alberta and Northern Canada, further solidifying Blatchford Field as the "Gateway to the North".Along with May, the Mayor of Edmonton, Kenny Blatchford, had played a key role in establishing the airport in 1927. Blatchford's son, Howard Peter Blatchford, became a fighter ace in WWII.