Toronto/Buttonville Municipal Airport

Encyclopedia : T : TO : TOR : Toronto/Buttonville Municipal Airport

{| class="infobox bordered" style="width: 220px; font-size: 95%;" |- ! colspan="4" style="text-align: center; background-color: #4682B4; color: white;" |Toronto/Buttonville Municipal Airport |- |align="center" colspan="4"|

Buttonville Municipal Airport or Toronto/Buttonville Municipal Airport, , is a medium-sized airport in Buttonville Ontario, Canada, within Markham and 29 km north of downtown Toronto. It is operated by Toronto Airways Limited. Due to its proximity to Toronto's suburbs, there are several strict noise-reduction procedures for aircraft using the airport. Buttonville is an airport of entry, with customs services available for flights from the United States. There is a weather station located at the airport. The airport is open and staffed 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Contents

1 Navigation
2 Radio
3 Navigation aids
4 Procedures

4.1 Arrival Procedures
4.2 Departure Procedures
4.3 Airport Operating Restrictions

5 New Air Traffic Control Tower
6 Tenants
7 Future
8 See also
9 References
10 External links

Navigation

There are three non-precision instrument approaches available: a GPS approach to runway 33, an NDB approach to runway 21, and a localizer approach to runway 15. Since the airport is inside the busy Toronto terminal area, the availability of approaches depends heavily on traffic flow to other airports.

Radio

-->The airport has a control tower using the frequencies 127.10 MHz for ATIS, 121.80 MHz for ground control, and 124.80 MHz for tower (with a backup frequency of 119.9 MHz used during busy periods). When the tower is closed, 124.80 MHz becomes a mandatory frequency. The London, Ontario Flight Information Centre has a Remote Communcation Outlet at the airport operating on the frequency 123.15 MHz. Toronto Terminal handles IFR arrivals and departures on 133.40 MHz.

Flightline is available on 123.50 MHz.

Navigation aids

There are three ground-based navigation aids attached specifically to the Buttonville airport:

a low-power NDB on the frequency 248 kHz with the identifier "KZ", located 4.4 nautical miles northeast of the airport
a DME on channel 48 (111.1 MHz) with the identifier "IKZ", located on the airfield
a localizer for runway 15 on the frequency 111.1 MHz

Procedures

Buttonville has some special procedures that should be followed.

Arrival Procedures

Turns to final approach will be made at or above 1150' ASL (500' AGL).
All approaches to remain above or on assumed 3.0 Glide Slope
Right hand circuit on Rwy. 15. Circuit height 1650' ASL (1000' AGL) except as specifically authorized by Air Traffic Control.

Departure Procedures

No turns below 1150' ASL (500' AGL) on all runways. No left turns below 1650' ASL (1000' AGL) on runway 15.

Airport Operating Restrictions

No practice circuits outside of YKZ control Tower hours of operation.
No practice IFR approaches outside YKZ Control Tower hours of operation.
No practice Engine Failure on Take Off procedure (E.F.T.O.'s) in the YKZ Positive Control Zone.
No touch and go circuits by excessively noisy aircraft.

It has been agreed with the Airport and the Town of Markham that no circuit practice will occur during specific hours during a long weekend holiday (Canada Day, Victoria Day, Labour Day, etc..)

New Air Traffic Control Tower

On January 17, 2006, NAV CANADA announced plans for the construction of a new air traffic control tower at Buttonville Airport.

The new tower, representing an investment of over $2 million, will replace the existing facility which was built in 1967 and is reaching the end of its useful life. Construction is scheduled to begin by the summer of 2006, with the facility scheduled to become operational by June 2007.

The new tower will provide expanded operational space, optimal visibility and the latest in air navigation equipment and technology for 12 air traffic controllers and two support staff who provide service to some 150,000 aircraft movements per year at Buttonville Airport. It will be located on the south side of the airport – the opposite side of the old tower.

The new tower will be designed and built using a modular design enabling the facility to be relocated in the future. New equipment and technology will include the NAV CANADA Auxiliary Radar Display System and the Company’s state-of-the-art voice communications switch. Buttonville Airport is one of the busiest in the country, consistently ranking in the top 11 for air traffic volumes.

Tenants

[LCE Aviation], providing private air charters around Southern Ontario and across the continent
Flightexec, an executive air charter and air ambulance for Ontario Air Ambulance
[Toronto Airways Limited], a flight training school
Seneca College's aviation program
The [Ontario Ministry of Health]'s air ambulance or [Bandage One] operations for the Greater Toronto Area.
[The Buttonville Flying Club]
680 News Traffic Unit

Future

The new control tower's modular design is speculated to be because the airport's licence expires in 2010 and the Greater Toronto Airport Authority planning document for Pickering Airport assumes its closure by 2011 when GTAA funding of Buttonville (which replaced a Provincial subsidy) ceases. (See pages 6, 14, 17 of the [GTAA Planning Document]).

However, Buttonville Airport is still privately owned and the GTAA has no jurisdiction to force its closure. As of yet, no plan to close the airport has ever been announced.

Given the GTAA's reputation for charging exorbitant fees for using its facilities, it is unlikely that most tenants of Buttonville will want to move to Pickering. The mix of small and large traffic proposed at Pickering and the travel time to Pickering will also discourage tenants from leaving such a conveniently located airport, and should plans be made to close Buttonville, it will only be over the very vocal objections of the local flying community.

References

Canada Flight Supplement. Effective 0901Z 8 June 2006 to 0901Z 3 August 2006.
[Buttonville Airport]

External links

[Toronto Airways Limited]

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.