Sikanni Chief Airport

Primarily economic reasons. The airport's last official operator was the British Columbia Ministry of Forests, which used it as a seasonal wildfire suppression base under the identifier CBE2. The high cost of maintaining a remote gravel airstrip for infrequent use, combined with the consolidation of air services to larger, better-equipped regional airports like Fort St. John and Fort Nelson, made it economically unviable. Its original strategic military importance had long since become obsolete with advancements in aircraft range and navigation technology.

The site is abandoned and decommissioned. Satellite imagery confirms that the long, single gravel runway remains clearly visible but is in a state of disrepair, with vegetation encroaching on the surface. The runway is marked with large white 'X's at its thresholds, the standard visual signal indicating a closed runway. There are no significant buildings or infrastructure remaining on the site, and it is not used for any official purpose. The area is slowly being reclaimed by the surrounding northern Boreal forest.

Sikanni Chief Airport holds significant historical importance as a key component of the Northwest Staging Route during World War II. Constructed in the early 1940s, it was one of a chain of airfields built to support two critical wartime efforts: the construction of the Alaska Highway and the Alaska-Siberia (ALSIB) air route for the Lend-Lease program. The airport served as a vital refueling, maintenance, and emergency landing site for thousands of American military aircraft (fighters, bombers, and transports) being ferried to Alaska for transfer to the Soviet Union to aid in the war against Nazi Germany. After the war, it was transferred to the Canadian Department of Transport and continued to serve as an emergency airfield and a gateway for resource exploration (oil and gas), trapping, and forestry operations in the remote region before its final role as a provincial forestry base.

There are no known or published plans to reopen Sikanni Chief Airport. The logistical and financial investment required to restore the runway and support infrastructure to modern, certifiable standards would be substantial. Given that the region's transportation and aviation needs are met by the major airports in Fort St. John and Fort Nelson, there is no current economic or strategic justification for its reopening. The prospects for reopening are considered extremely low to non-existent.