I flew on a Boeing 737-200 from a gravel runway!
This 4 hour journey would take me from the small village of Puvirnituq in Northern Quebec,
all the way south to Montreal, with a quick stop in between.
Just for some much-needed context, if you’re wondering how I wound up here, myself and
my friend Mark paid a visit to Northern Quebec back in April 2022.
This portion of the province north of the 55th parallel is called “Nunavik”, and
is quite culturally distinct from the rest of Quebec.
Around 90% of the population here are Inuit, and 14,000 people in total live in the region,
spread out across 14 northern villages.
With no road connections whatsoever, those 14 communities are all served by Air Inuit,
an eastern Canadian airline that flies a fleet of turboprops as well as Boeing 737s. 4 of
those 737s are the older -200 variant, which has become exceptionally rare around the world.
We flew up from Montreal to spend some time in the largest of those communities, the town
of Kuujjuaq in the northeast.
I’ve always had an interest in Canada’s North, as well as seeing remote areas of the
country, and so Nunavik is someplace I’ve been really fortunate to visit.
We spent 3 days looking around, taking in the scenery, and of course documenting the
regular traffic at the airport there.
At the end of our visit, the best way to get back to the South was to first fly across
the region to Puvirnituq, and then catch the connecting flight to Montreal on the 737.
That first flight on a Twin Otter was 2+ hours of low-level flying over hundreds and hundreds
of square kilometres of stunning unspoiled terrain.
I’ll link to that flight’s video somewhere on the screen, but long story short, it was
spectacular.
Located on the Hudson Bay coast just above the 60th parallel North, the town of Puvirnituq
is home to roughly 2100 people.
If that sounds familiar, it’s because I’ve actually been here before for what was a very
interesting couple of days the previous year.
In August of 2021, Mark and I attempted to visit Kuujjuaq going the opposite direction
of today’s flight.
After arriving here in Puvirnituq though, a windstorm cancelled every other flight that
day and the next, with winds up to 100 kilometers an hour at times.
That left us a teensy bit stranded, so we made the best of it, and spent a few days
here instead.
In that time, we went for a drive with some Air Inuit employees, saw some caribou, and
got an amazing look at the unspoiled tundra all around us.
With all the flights being cancelled, we also spent most of our time walking around the
town.
100km/hr winds aside, Puvirnituq is a genuinely beautiful place to visit, and although it
wasn’t quite the original plan, we were glad to have been here.
So, you can imagine it was a bit surreal to be back here after that previous year’s
adventure, and funny enough, we were even recognized by some of the Air Inuit staff
in the terminal, in a “oh, you’re back” kind of way.
We had a couple hours between flights here, and naturally took it upon ourselves to film
a few planes.
It being -20 outside, but thankfully not nearly as windy, we still stayed close to the terminal.
Predictably, we also took advantage of the snow for some much better vantage points!
While we waited, one of Air Inuit’s four flying 737-200s came in from Montreal operating
an all-cargo flight.
Funny enough, I’ve actually flown on this one a bunch of times when it was with Canadian
North, so seeing it here in its element on a gravel runway was pretty cool.
That was quickly followed up by our actual plane for today’s flight, another 737-200
Combi registered as Charlie Golf Sierra Papa Whiskey.
It is the same Air Inuit one I’ve flown on a couple times now, but like I always say,
a 737-200 is a 737-200.
This 40-year-old plane is just one of a handful that are still flying in scheduled passenger
service in the world today.
Just for the history and sheer rarity of these planes, I will never get enough of them!
The reason these planes are even around still, as I’ve talked about on this channel a bunch,
is because they can be fitted with a gravel kit.
That includes, most notably, the deflectors on the nose and main gears, along with these
two vortex dissipators in front of each engine.
Those vortex dissipators basically blows compressed air down in front of the engine to prevent
gravel or other debris from being ingested.
That makes the 737-200 one of the most capable airplanes for operating in Northern Canada,
and one of the very few jets that can actually use gravel runways.
Now gravel runways are still pretty common in Northern Canada, and that’s because paving
a runway in remote communities like these is not a simple task.
Not only is it challenging and costly to get all the necessary materials and equipment
there, but the airports are lifelines for these communities and need to stay open.
This terminal building was opened in 2013 as part of a major infrastructure project,
which also included a runway extension to accommodate Air Inuit’s 737s.
These days, Puvirnituq is one of just a few airports with gravel runways that gets scheduled
737 flights.
Canada’s other 737-200 operators are usually operating these on mining contracts that aren’t
necessarily available to the general public.
With Canadian North retiring their last -200 soon, Puvirnituq might just be the last place
for your average passenger to experience a gravel runway in a 737.
Let’s go hop on board!
I managed to get a window seat in the very last row in 19A, which still had the iconic
737-200 wing view!
Air Inuit’s seats all have a pretty generous amount of legroom and are quite comfortable.
With this being in a combi configuration with only 36 seats, boarding didn’t take too
long and we were soon on our way southbound.
Please enjoy the sights and sounds of the 737-200, as we take off from runway 19 with
some spectacular views on the climb out.
We lucked out big time with the weather today, with the perfectly clear sky giving us those
stunning views of the frozen landscape and part of Hudson Bay down below.
This is just such a beautiful and underrated part of the country and I’m glad to have
seen it in both summer and winter!
You might notice that Air Inuit’s kept the smaller overhead bins on this plane, and that’s
because they need to have enough space to be able to use the whole cabin for cargo if
needed.
They don’t necessarily stick to just one cabin configuration though, and it can change
on a daily basis.
As you’d expect, Air Inuit has a typical tray table at every seat, plus this roomy
seatback pocket.
In there was the usual Covid pamphlet, an air sickness bag, and the safety card.
The crew also handed out these water bottles.
Impressively, Air Inuit also has this wifi-based in-flight entertainment system!
Not at all something you’d expect to see on a 40-year-old plane, and it had a good
selection of media, plus lots of reading about Nunavik’s communities.
Now, if you noticed, Puvirnituq does not exactly have security or CATSA like you’d normally
see in Canadian airports.
That’s why the first of two flights on this plane today will only take us about halfway
to Montreal, with this hour and a half flight to La Grande Riviere airport.
There, we’ll get off the plane, claim checked baggage, and clear security before heading
to Montreal.
The reason for that is you can’t exactly let unscreened passengers into the secure
part of the airport in Montreal.
Interestingly though, if the weather is bad in La Grande, sometimes Air Inuit will fly
straight to Montreal and instead park at their own FBO where passengers don’t have to be
screened.
I, for one, was looking forward to seeing another exceptionally random airport!
Here’s the arrival into La Grande, landing on runway 13.
La Grande Riviere Airport serves part of the James Bay project, which is one of the largest
hydroelectric installations in the world.
This involved the construction of multiple hydroelectric dams along La Grande Riviere,
the second-largest river in Quebec after the St. Lawrence.
The project was quite controversial among the Inuit and Cree of the area when it was
proposed in the 1970s, without consultation.
The legal battles that ensued eventually led to the signing of the James Bay and Northern
Quebec Agreement.
That gave, among other points, exclusive hunting and fishing rights to the Inuit and Cree and
nearly 250 million dollars’ worth of financial compensation.
According to Air Inuit, after decades of debate between Nunavik’s citizens and the Quebec
government everyone eventually got a fair deal, and it’s now, quote, “generally
accepted that the project has been to the benefit of the native Cree and Inuit populations”.
Air Inuit is the only scheduled airline here, though the airport does receive regular charter
flights, as well as Hydro-Quebec’s Dash 8s.
These maps here in the terminal also really give you a sense of the sheer scale of this
project.
Like I said before, the only thing for us to really do here was go through security,
wait a bit, and then get right back on our plane for the next leg to Montreal.
I made my way back to 19A, and we were soon starting up again for the last flight of the day.
Now, a couple of years ago, I was told by a Canadian North flight attendant that one
of the best places to sit on the -200 is in the very last row, since you can actually
hear the engines making that characteristic crackling sound.
I got to hear just that on both takeoffs, and you really do feel it in your chest!
Now, one thing that most Northern Canadian airlines really shine with is the fact that
they offer actual complimentary food on board!
Today’s flight was no exception, and I got this very impressive meal box, plus this nicely
branded Air Inuit cup.
The meal box included a Caesar salad, a salmon dish with rice and vegetables, cheese, half
of a bagel, and a dessert.
That salmon was absolutely delicious, in between bits of turbulence.
You’d never get anything like this in Economy on other Canadian airlines!
On today’s flight, this 737-200 had 6 rows of seats, with room for 36 passengers in total.
Those passengers have access to one lavatory in the rear of the plane, which was roomy
enough, but didn’t have running water.
In front of the passenger seats is the cargo compartment, which was mostly empty seeing
as the cargo on these planes only really goes one direction.
After we landed, I also asked if there was any chance of a flight deck visit, and the
crew were very accommodating.
This plane has clearly had some avionics upgrades, and it’s very interesting seeing this mix
of screens and steam gauges!
And yes, there is a switch for the gravel kit’s vortex dissipators.
With a couple more bumps as we approached Montreal, we eventually began our descent.
Overall, this was another excellent flight with Air Inuit, and another great ride on
the iconic 737-200.
With these planes being as rare as they are, you never know when you’ll fly on one for
the last time, so I try to make the most of every single opportunity.
They may still be regular sights in some parts of Canada, especially Montreal, but there
will come a time maybe 10 or 20 years in the future when there won’t be any left flying.
And that’s exactly why I do trips like this to unlikely places, to see new parts of the
country and just how important aviation is to so many Canadians in the North.
Admittedly, there’s been no shortage of 737-200 videos on this channel over the years,
but I know for a fact that I’ll be able to look back on them in maybe a decade or
two and be very glad I made them.
So, a genuine thank you to all of you for watching, and I’ll see you next time.