Shell 13 Airport

Economic and operational consolidation. The airport was a small, private airstrip supporting a specific Shell Canada exploration or production site. It became redundant and was decommissioned after air services for Shell's Athabasca Oil Sands Project were centralized at the newly constructed and far superior Albian Aerodrome (CAS6), located approximately 75 km to the south.

The site is abandoned and decommissioned. Satellite imagery shows the clear outline of a single runway, which is now heavily overgrown with vegetation and is being reclaimed by the surrounding boreal forest. There are no remaining buildings or active operations. The land is part of a former industrial lease area that is likely undergoing natural or mandated environmental reclamation.

Shell 13 Airport was a private industrial aerodrome crucial for the logistics of Shell Canada's oil sands operations in a remote part of northern Alberta. It primarily handled charter flights for the fly-in/fly-out (FIFO) workforce, transported essential cargo and equipment, and provided emergency access. The airstrip was unpaved (gravel) and serviced STOL (Short Take-Off and Landing) aircraft, such as the DHC-6 Twin Otter and Dash 8, which are common for accessing remote industrial sites. It represents a typical piece of infrastructure from the earlier phases of oil sands development before larger, centralized facilities were built.

There are no known plans or prospects for reopening the airport. The original industrial need for the airstrip no longer exists. Regional air traffic is now served by the much larger and better-equipped Fort McMurray International Airport (CYMM) and the private Albian Aerodrome (CAS6). The cost of clearing the land, reconstructing the runway to modern standards, and obtaining Transport Canada certification would be prohibitive and is not economically justifiable.