Procedures |
Yellowknife airport is a class D airport with a 5nm control zone up to but excluding 3 700 ft ASL.
| Sector ID | Radio Callsign | Frequency | Airspace |
| CYZF_TWR | Yellowknife Tower | 118.50 | 5nm Control zone to 3700ft ASL. |
| CYZF_GND | Yellowknife Ground | 121.90 | All taxiways, excluding the aprons. |
Clearances must be requested from Edmonton ACC if that controller is online. Use the "ATC clears" prefix before the clearance as you have to relay it. If the controller is not online, issue the clearance yourself and drop the prefix.
No specific routing restrictions exist in Yellowknife, though preferred routes exist and should be used whenever possible. See CFS for more info.
All IFR flights are to be cleared via the Yellowknife 1 (Y3) Standard Instrument departure.
Squawk codes
Standard ground procedures apply.
Runway configurations
All runways are available for arrival and departures. Expect departure delay for aircraft willing to backtrack runway 33 or 09.
Departures
Edmonton ACC, when online, is responsible for separation between departures and a release MUST be requested before issuing takeoff clearance. If Edmonton is not online, use standard separations for departures and take that responsability.
Besides providing the radar/wake turbulence separation between departures, the Tower controller must ensure that the initial separation between aircraft does not decrease. Factors such as aircraft performance and pilot technique vary even in the real world so be wary when attempting to run departures with minimum spacing, especially when departing a jet behind a prop, even if their wake category are the same.
IFR traffic is handed off to "Edmonton Centre" with the take-off clearance.
Arrivals
Though it is a responsibility of the ACC to provide the appropriate separation between successive arrivals on final approach, responsibility for spacing between arriving aircraft may be transferred to the Tower once the aircraft crosses the Final Approach Fix (FAF).
With the use of radar the Tower assumes control of arrivals at the FAF regardless of the weather conditions. See MANOPS section 362.5 for the proper control transfer procedures.If using IvAi in conjunction with FS to operate a visual tower viewpoint you may decrease the 3 nm separation of aircraft on final provided both aircraft are in sight. Aircraft conducting visual approaches in accordance with MANOPS section 566 and 567 are responsible for maintaining their own separation.
On Arrival traffic will be handed off to Tower once established on the approach (or any leg for visual approaches) prior to entering the control zone. If ACC is offline, make sure the aircraft calls you in advance so you can start managing separation between other traffic as needed.
VFR traffic
Arrivals
VFR traffic will be transferred to tower approximately prior to entering the control zone.Departures
Restrictions should only be applied for separation with other IFR traffic. There are no pre-defined guidelines.