North Star Air Explained

Airline:North Star Air
Aoc:11025
Fleet Size:15, 18
Destinations:18
Iata:0N
Cdd:BF
Callsign:BLACKFLY
Parent:The North West Company
Headquarters:Thunder Bay, Ontario
Key People:Frank Kelner
Hubs:Thunder Bay International Airport,
Pickle Lake Airport,
Red Lake Airport,
Thompson Airport,
Kapuskasing Airport
Secondary Hubs:Sioux Lookout Airport

North Star Air is a Canadian charter, passenger and cargo airline headquartered in Thunder Bay, Ontario,[1] with secondary passenger hub in Sioux Lookout, Ontario, and cargo hubs located in Pickle Lake, Red Lake, Kapuskasing and Thompson, Manitoba. The majority of destinations served are First Nations communities, with regular service to 18 airports under "Flex Flight Passenger Service", and other regional destinations under an on-demand basis. Founded in 1997 as a floatplane operator with two DHC-2 Beaver aircraft based in Pickle Lake, the airline has grown over the years and came under new ownership in 2012. In 2015 Cargo North and North Star Air merged under the North Star banner. In 2022 North Star Air opened up their brand new cargo depot based in Winnipeg.

On 28 April 2017, it was announced that North Star Air had been purchased by The North West Company for a sum of $31 million.[2]

First Nation Community Partners

Destinations

Flex Flight Passenger ServicesAs of 2023 North Star Air flies to the following destinations:[3]

Fleet

As of March 2024, North Star Air had the following 15 aircraft registered with Transport Canada and list 18 on their website.[4]

North Star Air fleet
AircraftNumber
TC list
Number
North Star list
VariantsNotes
ATR 7245ATR 72-212A (ATR 72-500)Based at Thompson, freight only[5]
De Havilland Canada Dash 82Series 100Combi aircraft, based at Thunder Bay, up to 39 passengers[6]
Douglas DC-333Basler BT-67Based at Kapuskasing, Pickle Lake, Red Lake and Thompson, freight only[7]
Pilatus PC-1288PC-12/45, PC-12/47, PC-12/47ECombi aircraft, based at Sioux Lookout and Thunder Bay, up to 9 passengers[8]
Total1518

Bases

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Contact Us - Charter. Passenger. Cargo. 20 January 2023.
  2. Web site: North West Company spends $31M to buy its own airline. 20 January 2023. 29 April 2017.
  3. Web site: Route Map. 20 January 2023. and Web site: Schedules. 20 January 2023.
  4. Web site: Fleet. 22 March 2024.
  5. Web site: ATR 72-500F. 20 January 2023.
  6. Web site: Dash 8-100. 20 January 2023.
  7. Web site: Basler BT-67. 20 January 2023.
  8. Web site: Pilatus PC-12. 20 January 2023.