Drake Point Airport

The closure was for economic reasons tied directly to the cessation of the project it was built to support. The airport was a private facility constructed and operated by Panarctic Oils Ltd. to serve the Drake Point Gas Camp and associated drilling operations. The project was mothballed due to a combination of factors: persistently low natural gas prices in the 1980s, the extremely high cost of operating in the High Arctic, and the lack of a financially viable method (such as a pipeline or LNG facility) to transport the vast gas reserves to southern markets. Once the camp was demobilized, the airport no longer had a purpose.

The site is abandoned and unmaintained. High-resolution satellite imagery clearly shows the runway is still intact and visible, though weathered by decades of harsh Arctic conditions. Remnants of the adjacent camp, including building foundations, roads, and scattered debris, are also visible. The site is not officially in use for any purpose, and the airstrip is not certified or maintained for regular aviation. However, its existence is known in the aviation community, and it could potentially be used for emergency landings by aircraft equipped for unprepared surfaces. The entire site is a relic of past industrial activity, slowly being reclaimed by the tundra.

Drake Point Airport was a critical piece of infrastructure during Canada's ambitious High Arctic energy exploration boom from the late 1960s to the 1980s. Its primary role was to serve as the main logistical hub for Panarctic Oils' operations on Melville Island, which led to the discovery of the massive Drake Point Gas Field, one of Canada's largest. The airport's ~6,000-foot gravel runway was built to accommodate heavy-lift cargo aircraft, most notably the Lockheed L-100 Hercules. These planes were essential for transporting thousands of workers, heavy drilling equipment, vehicles, and all necessary supplies to establish and maintain the remote industrial outpost. The airport represents a significant chapter in Canadian engineering and resource exploration history.

There are no current or official plans to reopen Drake Point Airport. Any prospect for its reactivation is entirely speculative and contingent on the future economic viability of developing the High Arctic's natural gas reserves. While there has been periodic renewed interest and feasibility studies concerning Arctic LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) projects, the immense logistical, environmental, and financial hurdles have so far prevented any project from advancing. A multi-billion dollar investment in new extraction and transportation infrastructure would be required to develop the Drake Point field, and only then would the need to rebuild and reopen the airport arise. For the foreseeable future, its prospects for reopening remain extremely low.