Rainbow Lake, CA 🇨🇦 Closed Airport
CA-0303
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- ft
CA-AB
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Loading...GPS Code: Not available
Local Code: Not available
Location: 58.491226° N, -118.919533° E
Continent: NA
Type: Closed Airport
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Approximately late 1990s to early 2000s. The exact date is not documented publicly, but the aerodrome was delisted from the Canada Flight Supplement (CFS) around this time, officially marking its closure.
Economic reasons and operational redundancy. The airstrip was a private facility owned by Mobil Oil Canada. Its closure was likely due to a combination of factors, including the high cost of maintenance for a private strip, consolidation of oil and gas operations, corporate restructuring (such as the 1999 merger between Exxon and Mobil), and the availability of the larger, better-equipped public Rainbow Lake Airport (CYOP) located approximately 30 km to the northeast.
The site is completely decommissioned and is no longer used for aviation. Satellite imagery of the coordinates reveals the faint, overgrown outline of the former gravel runway. The land has been repurposed for ground-based industrial use related to ongoing oil and gas activities. The path of the former runway is now obstructed by wellheads, access roads, and storage areas for industrial equipment like pipes, making it unusable for aircraft.
Mobil 1128 Airport was a private aerodrome located in Rainbow Lake, Alberta, Canada (Note: The provided location 'CA' refers to Canada, not California). It was owned and operated by Mobil Oil Canada to directly support its significant oil and gas exploration and production activities in the remote Rainbow Lake oil field. The airstrip was a critical piece of infrastructure, used to transport personnel, time-sensitive parts, and essential supplies to and from the company's field operations. The numeric designation '1128' likely corresponds to an internal company identifier for a specific lease, well, or facility. The airport represents a common practice in the mid-to-late 20th century where energy companies built private airstrips to overcome logistical challenges in remote regions.
There are no known plans or prospects for reopening the airport. The site has been physically repurposed for industrial ground activities, and the region's aviation needs are fully served by the public Rainbow Lake Airport (CYOP). Reopening this small, private strip would be economically unviable and operationally redundant. It is considered permanently closed.