Taxiway Improvements at Chris Hatfield Airport in Sarnia

The City of Sarnia’s Chris Hatfield airport is the aerial gateway to the Sarnia-Lambton region and a crucial transportation asset for southwestern Ontario. It’s an important economic and social asset for the community that helps support tourism, trade, and investment. 

In 2022, Sarnia invested the Canada Community-Building Fund into upgrades at the airport, including the resurfacing of Taxiway Alpha, along with new outdoor solar lighting along the taxiway and new signage. 

The City completed an Airport Master Plan in 2021. Recommendations included a series of infrastructure updates over the coming years that would be required to keep the airport operating safely and efficiently. Taxiway Alpha was identified as a priority project in the plan and the rehabilitation was completed with support from the CCBF.

The airport is home to a number of local businesses, including a flight training school and a tourism-based sight-seeing business. It has a number of hangars for private pilots, and welcomes private aircraft operators visiting the region for tourism and business purposes. It also serves an important role in supporting critical care transfers and emergency services missions, and hosts public events to connect the community with the facility.

The airport opened in 1958, and the City took ownership in 1997, renaming the airport in honour of Canadian Space Agency astronaut and Sarnia native Chris Hatfield. Prior to COVID, the airport welcomed more than 10,000 passengers annually.