Cowpar Airport

Economic and logistical reasons. The airstrip was located in the remote Cowpar region of the Athabasca Oil Sands and was almost certainly built to support oil and gas exploration or extraction projects. These private airstrips are often temporary and are decommissioned or abandoned once the project phase they support is completed, if the project is deemed uneconomical, or if all-weather road access is established, making air transport redundant.

The site is abandoned and decommissioned. Current satellite imagery clearly shows the outline of the former runway, but it is completely overgrown with shrubs and young trees. The boreal forest is actively reclaiming the cleared land, and the strip is entirely unusable for any type of aircraft.

The airstrip's significance was purely industrial and logistical. It was not a public airport and had no scheduled passenger or cargo services. Its purpose was to provide access to a remote industrial area for a private company or consortium in the energy sector. Operations would have consisted of small to medium-sized propeller aircraft (e.g., De Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otter, DHC-2 Beaver, Cessna Caravan) capable of using a short, unpaved runway to transport personnel and high-priority supplies.

There are no known plans or prospects for reopening the airstrip. Given its advanced state of disrepair and the significant cost required to clear the land and restore the runway, it is highly improbable that it will ever be used as an airfield again. Any new industrial activity in the area would likely rely on helicopter access or the construction of a new airstrip or road.