Obonga Airport

Military decommissioning. The airport was built exclusively to support the Mid-Canada Line, a Cold War-era radar defence system. The entire line was declared obsolete with the advent of Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) and more advanced radar systems, leading to its complete shutdown and the abandonment of its support infrastructure, including the Obonga airstrip.

The site is an abandoned and unmaintained gravel airstrip located in the remote wilderness of Northwestern Ontario. Satellite imagery shows the single runway is still clearly visible as a scar on the landscape but is significantly overgrown with shrubs and other vegetation. All associated military buildings, radar equipment, and support infrastructure have been removed, likely as part of environmental remediation programs to clean up former Mid-Canada Line sites. The airport is completely inactive and unusable for standard aviation.

Obonga Airport was a critical logistical support airfield for the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) during the Cold War. Constructed between 1956-1957, its sole purpose was to serve Sector Control Station 400 of the Mid-Canada Line. This radar station was part of a chain across Canada designed to provide early warning of a Soviet bomber attack over the Arctic. The airport handled military transport aircraft, such as the C-47 Dakota, which ferried personnel, fuel, construction materials, and supplies to the remote, road-inaccessible radar site.

There are no known plans or prospects for reopening Obonga Airport. Its extreme remoteness, lack of road access, and the absence of any local population, industry, or economic driver make its reactivation and maintenance economically unviable. It remains a historical relic of Cold War military strategy.