Colville Lake Airport

Economic and safety-related replacement. The old airstrip was replaced by a new, modern, all-season airport as part of a major infrastructure investment by the Government of the Northwest Territories. The new facility was built to provide safer, more reliable, year-round air access for the remote community, capable of handling larger aircraft and overcoming the seasonal limitations of the previous strip.

The site of the original airstrip, located a short distance northeast of the current airport, is now decommissioned and abandoned. Satellite imagery shows a faint, unmaintained land strip that is no longer used for any aviation purposes. It is slowly being reclaimed by nature.

For decades, the original airstrip was the primary and vital air link for the remote Dene community of Behdzi Ahda (Colville Lake). It was essential for the delivery of mail, food, medical supplies, and for passenger and medevac flights. Operations were typically limited to smaller bush planes like the Cessna 206, de Havilland Beaver, and Otter. Air access was often impossible during the spring thaw and fall freeze-up periods, a critical problem that the new all-season airport was designed to solve.

None. There are no plans or prospects for reopening the old airstrip. It has been permanently and fully superseded by the superior, safer, and government-certified Colville Lake/Tommy Kochon Aerodrome (CEB3), which fully serves the community's needs.