Polaris (Little Cornwallis Island) Airport

The airport was closed for economic reasons following the permanent closure of the Polaris Mine, which it was built exclusively to serve. The lead-zinc mine, operated by Cominco Ltd. (later Teck Cominco), ceased production in August 2002 after exhausting its ore reserves. With the mine's closure, the supporting infrastructure, including the townsite and the airport, was no longer required and was subsequently decommissioned.

The airport site, along with the entire Polaris Mine facility, has been fully decommissioned and reclaimed. Following the mine's closure, Teck Cominco undertook an extensive, multi-year reclamation project, which was completed around 2004. This involved dismantling all buildings (including hangars and terminals), removing hazardous materials, and re-contouring the land to promote natural revegetation and restore the site to a state compatible with the surrounding environment. While the faint outline of the former runway may be visible on satellite imagery as a long, straight land scar, it is no longer maintained, is considered unusable, and has no active infrastructure.

The Polaris Airport was a private aerodrome of significant logistical importance, serving as the lifeline for the Polaris Mine, one of the world's most northerly metal mines. Constructed in the early 1980s, the airport featured a long gravel runway (approximately 6,300 ft / 1,920 m) capable of handling large jet aircraft. Its primary function was to transport personnel and high-priority cargo. It handled regular charter flights, most notably using Boeing 727 and Boeing 737 'combi' aircraft, which could carry both passengers (mine workers on rotation) and freight. These flights connected the remote Arctic site with southern Canadian cities like Edmonton and Yellowknife. The airport was critical for year-round operation, especially during the long winters when sea access was blocked by ice, ensuring a continuous flow of workers, fresh food, mail, and essential supplies.

There are no known plans or prospects for reopening the Polaris Airport. The sole economic driver for its existence, the Polaris Mine, is permanently closed and the site has been fully remediated. Re-establishing an airport at this remote location would require a significant new industrial or scientific purpose and a massive capital investment, neither of which is currently foreseen.