History :  the short version (...last edit, Oct 8, 2007)

The Region of Waterloo International Airport, or Kitchener/Waterloo Regional Airport (IATA: YKF, ICAO: CYKF), is situated in Waterloo Region, near Breslau, Ontario, Canada. 

The airport moved to the present location to accommodate expansion, and opened in 1950. Established by Waterloo-Wellington Airport Commission in 1948, it became a general aviation facility in 1969 in conjunction with the Transport Canada installation of an Air Traffic Control Tower operating year round.   

The airport has gone through at least five name changes over the years to accommodate local and regional government participation in funding maintenance and promotion. The latest incantation is The Region of Waterloo International Airport, and came into being March 2004 after Northwest Airlines announced that it would run daily flights to Detroit. 

While the airport has relatively little passenger traffic, it is the 15th-busiest general aviation airport in Canada by aircraft movements (2006), and underwent a major expansion in 2002. Electronically, the airport is well equipped with instrument landing systems, other on field navigation aids, and the latest in GPS (RNAV GNSS) published instrument approaches. The Nav Canada control tower operates year round, and provides radar service. 

The airport however is lacking in runway approach lighting.  This occasionally results in aircraft having to abort their landing attempts, however, a far larger numbers of aircraft never leave their departure points, or very commonly divert to adjacent airports while enroute during poor weather. Airport runway approach lighting significantly lowers the height a pilot may safely descend the aircraft during bad weather when attempting to see the runway for landing.

Currently, there are three major commercial airlines serving the area. Northwest Airlines providing service to Detroit, Skyservice providing service to Cancun, Puerto Plata, Punta Cana and other southern destinations during the winter season, and WestJet Airlines providing daily service to Calgary.

Bearskin Airlines commenced weekday flights (three daily) to Ottawa October 1, 2007, with 19 passenger turbo prop aircraft.

Ultimate Ski Vacations started service to Mt. Tremblant from Waterloo International Airport in January 2007. Skiers/snowboarders were able to purchase either 3 day or 4 day ski packages. This service is conducted on Voyageur Dash 7 aircraft, and although advertised to fly direct from the Waterloo Airport to Mt. Tremblant, the vast majority of flights ended up landing at Toronto Pearson Airport to pick up needed passengers.

Scheduled passenger service in the past from any airline within Canada has been problematic. First attempted in the 1970s, Great Lakes Airlines added Kitchener as a stop on their Sarnia - London - Toronto runs. Response was poor. National Aviation tried scheduled service in the early 1980s with flights to Toronto with Beech Queen Airs and a DC3.  Response by the public was less than hoped for, and the service ceased.  In recent years, other smaller airlines (Pemair and QuickAir) attempted service to Ottawa and Montreal. Whether because of under funding, poor choice of aircraft equipment, lack of advertising, or other factors, these services ceased as soon as monetary concessions ended from the Region of Waterloo. 

Population growth within the Region of Waterloo has been significant in recent years, and The Region of  Waterloo government is actively promoting this airport, however, it has not yet been established if this population growth can support year round daily passenger service to Canadian destinations.  Northwest Airlines does continue to be satisfied with passenger loads on their daily runs to Detroit. This may be due in part to the very large Toyota plant in the area employing over 4500, some of whom stay within Northwest Airlines and fly onto Japan directly from Detroit. WestJet is currently testing the waters, providing daily passenger service to Calgary, and Bearskin Airlines is trying daily service to Ottawa. 

It is unfortunate residential development has been allowed to proceed virtually up to the airport boundary, and exorbitant on-field hangar building and business start-up charges  left prepared airport development land completely untouched for three years. An argument can certainly be made that enticing on field building development with monetary concessions in the short run leads to more aviation business, more on field employment, more tenants, more rental income, more aircraft, more landing fees, a larger tax base, less reliance on the Region of Waterloo for financial support, and far out weighs any short term money grab. 

Airports are very expensive to maintain. With the correct political foresight and planning, this airport may continue to expand and develop.