NoneCA 🇨🇦 Closed Airport
ICAO
CA-0207
IATA
-
Elevation
- ft
Region
CA-BC
Local Time
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Loading...GPS Code: Not available
Local Code: Not available
Location: 59.516666° N, -126.366669° E
Continent: North America
Type: Closed Airport
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The airport was de-listed and abandoned gradually rather than on a specific date. Based on its removal from official publications like the Canada Flight Supplement and analysis of satellite imagery showing progressive overgrowth, it likely ceased being maintained and fell into disuse in the early to mid-2010s.
The closure was primarily for economic and operational reasons. As a remote airstrip maintained by the British Columbia government, its upkeep was costly. Its closure likely resulted from a combination of factors including budget constraints, the consolidation of firefighting assets at larger, better-equipped regional airports (like Fort Nelson Airport, CYYE, or Watson Lake Airport, CYQH), and a shift in wildfire suppression strategies that reduced the need for this specific forward operating base.
The airport is closed and abandoned. Recent satellite imagery shows the runway is heavily overgrown with vegetation and is completely unmaintained, making it unusable for any aircraft. The site is slowly being reclaimed by the surrounding boreal forest. There appears to be no remaining infrastructure, and the land has reverted to provincial Crown land.
Liard River Airport was a key piece of infrastructure for the British Columbia Provincial Emergency Program (PEP) and the BC Forest Service (now BC Wildfire Service). Its primary function was to serve as a forward operating base for fighting forest fires in the remote and vast Liard River basin of northern British Columbia. It handled operations for air tankers, smokejumpers, and the transport of firefighters and equipment. The gravel runway, approximately 4,900 feet (1,500 meters) long, was capable of supporting various firefighting aircraft. It was part of a strategic network of remote airstrips crucial for protecting the province's natural resources and remote communities from wildfires.
There are no known plans or prospects for reopening the Liard River Airport. Reopening is considered highly improbable due to the significant cost required to clear, regrade, and restore the runway to a safe condition. Furthermore, the strategic need for the airstrip is no longer present, as modern wildfire management strategies and the use of longer-range aircraft operating from established regional airports have made such remote, single-purpose airstrips largely obsolete.