Fort Franklin Airport

Replacement by a superior facility. The old Fort Franklin airstrip was a short, basic runway located within the community. It was replaced by the new Délįne Airport, situated a few kilometers away, which features a longer, all-weather gravel runway (1,199 meters / 3,935 feet). The new airport can accommodate larger, more modern turboprop aircraft (like the Dash 8 and ATR 42), providing more reliable and capable year-round service for passengers and cargo.

The site of the former airport is no longer used for aviation. Satellite imagery of the coordinates shows the clear outline of the former runway. It has been repurposed and is now integrated into the local community's road network, serving as a local road or track. The area is not maintained as an aviation facility, and parts of the old strip are overgrown.

For much of the 20th century, the Old Fort Franklin Airport was the primary and vital air link for the remote community of Délįne (historically known as Fort Franklin). It was indispensable for the delivery of mail, food, medical supplies, and other essential goods. The airstrip was critical for passenger travel and life-saving medical evacuations. Operations were typically handled by classic Canadian bush planes, such as the de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver and DHC-3 Otter, which are designed for short, often unprepared, runways. Given its location on the shore of Great Bear Lake, it also supported floatplane operations during the ice-free summer months, making it a crucial piece of transportation infrastructure that connected the Sahtu Dene community to the rest of Canada.

There are no known plans or prospects to reopen the old Fort Franklin Airport. The community's aviation requirements are fully and more safely met by the modern Délįne Airport (CYWJ). Reopening an outdated and undersized airstrip when a superior facility is operational nearby would be economically and logistically unfeasible.