First Air

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<tr><td colspan="3" style="text-align: center; background-color: #FFFFFF;">Image:FirstAirLogo.gif</td></tr><tr><th colspan="2">Hubs</th><td>Yellowknife, Iqaluit</td></tr><tr><th colspan="2">Frequent flyer program</th><td>Aeroplan</td></tr>

First Air
IATA 7F	ICAO FAB<ref name="ATD">Transport Canada - Air Traffic Designators - TP 143 (PDF)</ref>	Callsign N/A<ref name="ATD" />
Founded		1946
Fleet size		18<ref name="fleet">*First Air fleet details (PDF)</ref>
Destinations		28<ref name="dest">First Air route map</ref>
Headquarters		Kanata, Ontario
Key people		Bob Davis (President)
Website: http://www.firstair.ca

First Air is an airline based in Carp, Ontario, Canada. It operates services to 24 communities in Nunavut, Nunavik and the Northwest Territories. It also charters its fleet worldwide through brokers, freight forwarders and alliances with other carriers. Its main base is Ottawa International Airport, with hubs at Iqaluit Airport and Yellowknife Airport. First Air is unusual in that it is one of the few international airlines that does not have a designated ICAO call sign.<ref name="ATD" />

1 History
2 Services
3 Fleet
4 External links
5 References

[edit] History

The airline was founded and started operations as Bradley Air Services in 1946. First Air first started flying in 1973, between Ottawa and North Bay, Ontario. This flight was operated with an eight seat passenger plane. Eventually, the airline would have southern gateways at Edmonton, Winnipeg, Montreal and Kuujjuaq also. At Kuujjuaq, the airline provided vital services to the Inuit community, covering 16 Inuit communities with its partnership with Air Inuit. In 1995 First Air bought Ptarmigan Airways, and in 1997 it bought Northwest Territorial Airways, both of which were merged into First Air.

First Air is wholly owned by the Inuit people of Quebec through the Makivik Corporation.

[edit] Services

Image:First.air.hercules.jpg

First Air operates services to the following domestic scheduled destinations (at October 2006<ref name="dest" />):

Alberta
- Edmonton (Edmonton International Airport)

Manitoba
- Winnipeg (Winnipeg International Airport)

Northwest Territories

Nunavut

Ontario
- Ottawa (Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport)

Quebec
- Kuujjuaq (Kuujjuaq Airport)
- Montreal (Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport)

Yukon
- Whitehorse (Whitehorse International Airport)

[edit] Fleet

Image:C-GBFA First Air HS748 (A748).JPG

The First Air fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of October 2006)<ref name="fleet" />:

**First Air Fleet**
Aircraft	No. of Aircraft	Seats	Notes
ATR 42-300	6	Max 42	Combi aircraft, Ice/Gravel runway capable
BAe 748 Series 2A	3	Max 40	Combi aircraft, Ice/Gravel runway capable
Boeing 727-200C	1	Max 174	Combi aircraft, Ice runway capable
Boeing 727-200F	1	None	Cargo aircraft only, Ice runway capable
Boeing 737-200C	3	Max 115	Combi aircraft, Ice/Gravel runway capable
Boeing 737-200	2	Max 99	All passenger aircraft
L-382G Super Hercules	2	None	Cargo aircraft only, Ice/Gravel runway capable