Ross Bay Junction Airport

Project Completion. The airport was not a public facility but a temporary, private airstrip built for a single purpose: to support the construction of the Churchill Falls hydroelectric project. It served the 'Ross Bay' construction camp, which was established to build a segment of the 735-kV high-voltage transmission lines. Once construction of the power lines in that sector was complete, the camp was dismantled, and the associated airport was no longer needed and was abandoned.

The site is completely abandoned and non-operational. Satellite imagery clearly shows the remnants of the single gravel runway, located immediately adjacent to the modern Trans-Labrador Highway (Route 500). The runway surface is deteriorated and overgrown with vegetation. There are no remaining buildings, hangars, or any aviation infrastructure. The site is simply a visible scar on the landscape in a remote, undeveloped area of Labrador.

Ross Bay Junction Airport was a crucial piece of logistical infrastructure for one of Canada's largest engineering projects, the Churchill Falls Generating Station. Active from the late 1960s into the early 1970s, the gravel airstrip was vital for transporting personnel, specialized equipment, and essential supplies to the extremely remote Ross Bay construction camp. In an era before the Trans-Labrador Highway provided reliable ground access, this and other similar airstrips were the lifeline for the thousands of workers building the massive transmission corridor through the Labrador wilderness. Operations would have primarily consisted of charter flights using rugged, STOL (Short Take-Off and Landing) capable aircraft like the de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter and DHC-3 Otter.

There are zero known plans or prospects for reopening Ross Bay Junction Airport. Its original purpose is obsolete. The nearby town of Churchill Falls is served by the permanent and paved Churchill Falls Airport (IATA: ZUM, ICAO: CZUM), which handles all regional air traffic. Furthermore, the Trans-Labrador Highway now provides reliable year-round ground access to the area, eliminating the need for a remote support airstrip. The airport will almost certainly remain an abandoned relic of the region's industrial history.