Reliability for landings in inclement weather is improving at Nanaimo Airport, courtesy a regulatory improvement from Nav Canada and continued lighting and infrastructure enhancements. (Image Credit: File Photo/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Alex Rawnsley

reduced delays

‘A dramatic difference:’ minimum altitude change at Nanaimo Airport improving landing reliability

Feb 25, 2026 | 12:09 PM

NANAIMO — A regulatory change from Nav Canada is already dramatically reducing the number of diversions or missed approaches at YCD.

The organization, which operates Canada’s civil air navigation system, approved a change to Nanaimo Airport’s minimum descent altitude (MDA) from 441 feet to 250 feet, giving pilots extra time to visually line up the runway from one mile out rather than solely relying on instruments.

Nanaimo Airport CEO Dave Devana told NanaimoNewsNOW in the first 23 days of the year, they had 13 cancellations due to approach conditions, however none have occurred in the month since the change.

“It’s a huge difference. The pilots can get down lower at one mile than they did before. The cloud cover around here is usually around 350 to 400 feet, so it’s just made a dramatic difference in the reliability and the safety for our customers and the airlines.”

Devana said their previous flight reliability was around 89 per cent during the winter months, however the upgrades are projected to raise it to 97 per cent.

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The changes affect runway 16, which is the northern approach to the airport where planes are hovering above Cedar.

It’s where a majority of landings occur, due to the straight in approach, instead of asking pilots to execute a last minute turn over Ladysmith to land on runway 34.

Continued upgrades to the airport’s runway lights will hopefully drop the MDA to around 200 feet, once completed, and would classify the landing pattern as a “precision approach”.

“The work that’s needed to be done, it’s going to take us two or three years, but we’re on track to be the same as Victoria, Vancouver, Kelowna, Comox. But 250 feet…it’s the best we’ve ever been, the best before was 338 feet.”

Devana said the airport continues to make smart, measured enhancements to its operations and infrastructure.

While passengers are returning, it’s still not to the level pre-pandemic.

“We resurfaced our entire runway, we grooved the runway, we resurfaced our taxiways, we moved from asphalt to a concrete apron, of course we did the departure lounge expansion in 2020. We’ve done about $20 million worth of work on our airport infrastructure…and we’re doing all this to get ready for new routes, new growth.”

Longer term upgrades are also planned for runway 34 to allow planes for a more reliable approach from the south.

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