Wide Bay Airport

Economic. The airport was built to serve the Pacific American Fisheries (PAF) salmon cannery at Wide Bay. When the cannery ceased operations and was permanently closed in 1951, the airstrip lost its primary purpose and was subsequently abandoned.

The airport is completely abandoned and unusable. Satellite imagery of the coordinates reveals the faint, overgrown outline of the former runway, which is being reclaimed by native vegetation. There are no remaining structures associated with the airport or the cannery. The site is located within the remote Alaska Peninsula National Wildlife Refuge and is accessible only by boat, floatplane, or helicopter. The land has returned to a natural state and is managed as a wilderness area.

Wide Bay Airport was a vital, private logistical hub for the remote Wide Bay cannery. In an era before extensive road infrastructure in Alaska, such airstrips were critical. Its operations consisted primarily of bush planes (e.g., Piper Cubs, Stinsons, Cessnas) and other general aviation aircraft. These planes were used for transporting personnel, delivering mail and essential supplies, and facilitating medical evacuations for the cannery's workforce. The airport is a historical artifact of Alaska's mid-20th-century canning industry, representing how isolated industrial sites relied on aviation to connect with the outside world. The runway was an unpaved, turf or gravel strip, approximately 2,000 feet in length.

There are no known plans or prospects for reopening Wide Bay Airport. Its remote location, the absence of any local industry or population to serve, and its status within a protected National Wildlife Refuge make any future development extremely unlikely. Re-establishing an airfield would require a significant economic driver and would face major environmental and regulatory hurdles.