Fifteen minutes southeast of Sherwood Park lies a very special place — the Cooking Lake Airport. Rich in aviation history and a leader in the Albertan and North American aviation, Cooking Lake Airport is Canada’s oldest operating airport, established in 1926. Originally a seaplane base supporting aircraft opening up the north, Cooking Lake Airport was instrumental in providing a gateway between Edmonton and remote northern communities.
Many famous bush pilots flew from Cooking Lake including Wilfrid May, Arthur Roy Brown, and Maxwell Ward. Ward took delivery of his first otter aircraft at Cooking Lake in 1953 and founded Wardair. Cooking Lake Airport was also the aircraft staging route for construction of the Alaska Highway during World War Two. Today, Cooking Lake Airport is the sixth-busiest community airport in Alberta and continues to serve as the starting point for some of the greatest aviation adventures in many flying careers.
In 1922, an aircraft landed in the water at Cooking Lake. There was no “official” airport at Cooking Lake then, but it signified great things to come.
With few regulations and even fewer aircraft facilities, early bush pilots quickly learned to improvise wherever they flew. It was no surprise they didn’t ask for permission to start an airport at Cooking Lake. They just set up their docks, cranes and fuel shacks and built what they needed. Word traveled quickly among the tight-knit flying community, and by 1926, Cooking Lake had become a favourite location, buzzing with seaplane activity. In those early days, there was no real owner or operator of the airport but as far as the pilots were concerned, it was the real deal.
Legendary World War I pilot and bush pilot, Wilfrid May, began using the Cooking Lake seaplane base in 1929 when his company won the contract to fly the Royal Mail in the far north all the way down the Mackenzie River to Aklavik. By the summer of 1930 he had five aircraft flying out of Cooking Lake Airport.
May’s initial fame came from an encounter with the Red Baron in 1918. Wop was being pursued by the Red Baron when Arthur Roy Brown came to May's rescue and shot down the Red Baron.
In 1928, May and James Victor Horner delivered lifesaving medicine to Fort Vermilion during a diphtheria outbreak. The flight took off on a cold December morning in an open cockpit plane without a heater. Wop and Vic were credited with saving the lives of many in the remote northern community .
One of the earliest recorded medevac flights in Alberta occurred on August 28, 1932. Walter and Gladys Hill of Fort McMurray were advised by their doctor to travel to Edmonton for more advanced medical assistance due to potential complications with Gladys’ pregnancy. A float-equipped plane flew the couple to Cooking Lake where a healthy baby boy was born 10 minutes after landing. Fortunately, there were no complications and the young family was later transported to Edmonton by ambulance for medical care, just to be safe.
In 1933, the City of Edmonton allocated $5,000 and began constructing an administration building, movable dock, slipway and a five-tonne crane for hoisting planes in and out of the water. A new 2,500 by 150-foot grass landing strip allowed wheeled aircraft to use the airport. The work was done manually by hundreds of men and teams of horses for three years. It was completed in 1936 with an administration building, a large lounge and seven guest rooms. Neville Robertson was hired by Edmonton to be the first official caretaker of the Cooking Lake Airport.
The U.S. Army Air Force established a base at Cooking Lake Airport in 1942 to support the construction of the Alaska Highway, and the Canol pipeline connecting Normal Wells to Whitehorse in the Yukon. These projects were a high priority because the Japanese were invading the Aleutians and threatening North America. The Americans purchased several Canadian-built aircraft and hired Canadian pilots to teach their servicemen how to fly and survive in Canada’s north. The Americans also needed a highly-experienced maintenance engineer so in 1942 they hired Orville (Art) Spooner as their crew chief at the Cooking Lake Base. Spooner gained many of his aircraft skills from working at May’s company doing aircraft maintenance and salvage work along the northwest staging route.
Docks were upgraded and a new seawall was built, but by 1943, the Alaska Highway was largely completed and the war was starting to turn in the Allies’ favor. The Canol pipeline was abandoned without a single drop of oil being pumped, and by 1945, the American presence at the Cooking Lake Airport had wound down and the airport reverted back to its previous commercial aviation operations.
In 1946, Edmonton began losing interest in operating the Cooking Lake Airport, so on January 14, 1947 Mayor Harry Ainlay announced the airport would be closed. There was no consultation with any of the airport users, so the controversial decision was fiercely opposed by the many commercial air service operators who relied on the airport for their business. To appease the public and the commercial air service operators, Edmonton reversed the decision to close the airport and then offered to lease the airport to Robertson and allow him to make a living off whatever proceeds he could generate from the airport. Robertson declined, so the same offer was extended to Spooner who accepted in April 1947. Spooner moved his family into the lodge and continued to extend the tradition of hospitality to pilots and air crews using the airport.
In 1947, the Leduc #1 oil discovery brought a new wave of activity to the airport. Oil companies found that float-equipped aircraft were ideal for exploring Alberta’s north and moving crews and equipment into remote locations. Edmonton had second thoughts about the closure of the airport and in May 1951 obtained a federal government grant of $20,000 to rehabilitate the docks and buildings. In the summer of 1956, concerns about receding water levels and the potential cost of pumping water from the North Saskatchewan River into Cooking Lake to maintain water levels resulted in Edmonton again looking for ways to sell off its interests in the airport. Edmonton placed a value of $16,400 on the airport assets and opened it up for bidding. Spooner made a bid of $12,000 but the provincial and federal governments intervened and the offer was rejected. The province still owned the land and refused to sell it to an individual, and both governments pressured Edmonton to continue operation of the airport as an auxiliary feature of the Edmonton Municipal Airport.
In 1959, Cooking Lake Airport was featured in the Hollywood movie “Wings by Chance” starring Frances Rafferty and James Brown. This was one of the first crews to stay at the Cooking Lake Airport lodge and became part of Spooner’s extended family. Jacques Cousteau also came to the airport to film one of his earliest documentaries, in which Spooner played the part of an Indian guide.
By 1969, the lodge and the docks at the airport had fallen into disrepair and were condemned by Edmonton. Rather than investing money in repairing the structures, the City again looked for ways to sell off its interests in the airport. In November 1970, Alberta Transportation took over airport operations and became the sole owner and operator of the facility. In 1980, a plan was drawn up to reconstruct the Cooking Lake Airport to become the crown jewel of Alberta Transportation’s province-wide system of community airports. On February 4, 1981, the historic Cooking Lake Airport lodge was torn down. A new seaplane loading ramp was constructed, the grass runway repaired and new runway edge markers installed. A temporary terminal building, consisting of a used construction job shack trailer, was installed. The “temporary” terminal building is still being used today.
The following year, a tie-down cable anchor system was installed for 65 aircraft, outdoor toilets were built and electric power was installed throughout the airport. A fuel truck was also purchased to provide aircraft refueling at the docks and around the field. Paul Mudryk was hired on November 1, 1982 as the first full-time airport manager since Spooner retired in 1979. Mudryk’s first aircraft report showed 172 aircraft movements for November 1981. In September 1984, the grass runway was closed to allow for asphalt paving. Aircraft were temporarily relocated to the Edmonton City Center Airport and Twin Island. Unfortunately, an unusually early and severe winter snowstorm in October resulted in the paving work being suspended until the following spring. The paving was completed in June 1985 along with the electric runway/taxiway edge lighting and a rotating airport beacon. The airport maintenance shop was also completed in the summer of 1985. A second construction job shack was added to the temporary terminal building which included an airport manager’s office.
Cooking Lake Airport had the largest number of aircraft based on the field of any of Alberta Transportation’s community airports, so in the summer of 1987, six additional taxiways were upgraded from gravel to asphalt. To keep up with the growth at the airport, Mudryk hired Tom Steele in January 1988. Mudryk retired in November 1988 so Steele became the fourth full-time airport manager at Cooking Lake.
Alberta Transportation surveyed the airport to create hangar lots for lease to private and commercial operators. By the end of 1985, the first hangar leases were signed and hangars erected by Adrian Met, Liard Development Ltd., Cooking Lake Air Service, Charles Jennison and Cameron Bay Air Services. Over the following few years, many more lots were leased and hangars were constructed. The Cooking Lake Airport Tenants Association was formed to coordinate the needs of airports users with Alberta Transportation.
In 1995, the Regional Airport Authority Act brought the Cooking Lake Airport, City of Edmonton, Villeneuve Airport and the International Airport together under ownership and management of the Edmonton Regional Airport Authority (ERAA). The Edmonton City Centre Airport remained under the ownership of Edmonton but was operated under contract by ERAA.
The transfer agreement between Alberta Transportation and ERAA required ERAA to operate Cooking Lake Airport for a minimum of 10 years. Alberta Transportation also provided transitional funding to ERAA to help fund airport maintenance and upgrades during the initial transition years.
In 1997, ERAA subdivided the hangar properties to create the first bare land airport condominium in Canada. This was a significant departure from the traditional rental model for hangar properties at other airports. The Cooking Lake Airport Tenant’s Association evolved into the Cooking Lake Airport Condominium Association.
By 2008, ERAA determined the Cooking Lake Airport was no longer core to its strategy. ERAA General Aviation Manager, Andy Shanks, advised the County of Strathcona and the hangar owners in March 2008 that ERAA would devolve its interest in the Cooking Lake Airport. If neither the County or the airport users would step up to take over the airport, ERAA would consider selling the airport to a third party or permanently closing the facility.
The volunteer group formed a committee to investigate various operating models and began lobbying the County to take over the airport. As the largest hub of economic activity in the southwest quadrant of the County, it seemed logical that the County would jump at the opportunity to take over operation of the airport for the benefit of the community. However, they chose to invest in the Josephburg airport.
Negotiations continued for four years and on October 1, 2012, ERAA transferred ownership and operation of the airport to the condominium association. Since that time, the condominium association has been voluntarily operating and funding the airport for the benefit of the public with no government support of any kind. Today, Cooking Lake Airport serves approximately 26,000 aircraft movements each year and is home base to more than 200 aircraft. It is the largest and business non-profit , volunteer-operated airport in Canada.
Last updated: Wednesday, January 21, 2026 Page ID: 50684