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Gander's beginnings date back to 1936 when the construction of the international airport began in earnest. By the end of 1937, a 900-person team had began construction. A few years later the airfield had four paved runways - the largest airport in the world at the time.
November 30, 1938 marks the establishment of Gander as an operational airport. However, there still remained the lack of suitable aircraft for transatlantic flights. Operations commenced with the arrival of two re-fuelling aircraft, which were used throughout the summer of 1939 to flight refuel Imperial Airways flying boats.
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On January 11, 1938, the first airplane landed at Gander. It was Fox Moth VO-ADE, operated by Imperial Airways for the Newfoundland Government and flown by Captain Douglas Fraser.
By the outbreak of war in September 1939, Gander was ready for civil operations. The value of a functioning airport in such a strategic position was unique. Gander was the only operative airport in the Atlantic Canada.
The airport at Gander became the main staging point for the movement of Allied aircraft to Europe during World War II. Gander's location on the Great Circle Route made it an ideal wartime refueling and maintenance depot for bombers flying overseas.
In November 1940, Captain D.C.T. Bennett left Gander for Europe, leading the first fleet of seven Lockheed Hudson bombers across the Atlantic during the Battle of Britain. More than 20,000 North American-built fighters and heavy bombers would follow.
In 1942 the Newfoundland Government handed over the control of Gander to the Canadian Government and it became a military airfield, with a continuous delivery of planes to the warzone.
In 1945, the Newfoundland government took over control of the airport. By the end of the year, Pan-American World Airways, Trans-World Airline, Trans Canada Airlines (later Air Canada) and British Overseas Airway Corporation (later British Airways) begin regular Atlantic air service through Gander. Gander handled 13,000 aircraft annually and a quarter million passengers, requiring a new $3 million terminal to be built and opened in June 19, 1959.
In the 1950s, Gander airport was one of the busiest international airports in the world, buoyed by transoceanic traffic.
The early 1960's saw a decline in and the arrival of the jet age. This led to a decrease in the use of Gander by these scheduled air carriers, since they now had the capability of flying the Atlantic without stops.
As a result, the "Trans Oceanic Plane Stop" program (TOPS) was established for planes making strictly technical stops for food, fuel and service.
The first TOPS flight landed in June 1970 and was owned by Transavia of Holland. The flights increased rapidly and in the next year, April 1971 to March 1972 there were 7,840 commercial landings made with 36 different airlines carrying 400,317 passengers.
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CHANGING WITH TECHNOLOGY
In the early 1980's, IL-62s of Aeroflot (Russia), CSA (Czechoslovakia), Cubana (Cuba), Interflug (East Germany) and LOT (Poland) visited Gander daily on flights from Eastern Europe and the Americas. Interflug, Cubana and Aeroflot also used Gander for the Moscow and Berlin to Havana route.
Aeroflot introduced wide-body IL-86's in 1980 and these made regular stops at Gander. The fact that stop-overs were made at Gander soon became known to potential refugees, and it was not uncommon to have defectors declare political asylum at the airport. The resulting tightening of customs and immigration policy served to effectively eliminate much of this traffic.
THE MODERN DAY
The general introduction of long-range aircraft and modernization of the transatlantic fleet has impacted the level of traffic at Gander. Today, cargo carriers using B747-200s for lugs such as Amsterdam-JFK use Gander as a necessary fuel stop for fully-loaded aircraft.
The boom in outside freight flights has resulted in regular visits from the Antonov An-124, as well as IL-76 cargo carriers. Cubana IL-76s still use Gander ocassionallt as a fuel stop when they are required for transatlantic cargo flights. The largest aircraft in the world, the Antonov An-225, also transits through Gander on flights to and from North America.
Technical stops remain a significant economic generator for the airport, especially with growth in the corporate/private jet market.
On November 6, 1996, the Gander International Airport Authority Inc. was incorporated. After extensive negotiations, the Agreement to Transfer the airport from Transport Canada was signed; and the airport transferred to the Gander International Airport Authority in March of 2001.
The aviation industry has undergone a profound change, and Gander International Airport continues to work to change with it.
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