Kenn Borek Air

The airline was established in 1966 as Vic Turner Ltd which operated a single de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter providing air support for oil exploration activities in the Canadian Arctic. Renamed Kenn Borek Air after being purchased by Borek Construction in 1971, the company acquired the Aklavik Flying Services which was founded in April 1947 by Michael Zubko operating a single Aeronca Champion at that time. In 1975 Kenn Borek acquired Kenting Atlas Aviation. Kenting Atlas Aviation had been formed in 1972 with the purchase of Weldy Phipps's Atlas Aviation (established in 1962) by Kenting Aviation. This was the second iteration of the Atlas Aviation name, the first evolving out of the renaming of McGuire Flying School at Uplands Airport, Ottawa, Ontario formed in 1946 by Hugh McGuire.

The company has been operating in Antarctica since 1985.

On 26 April 2001, Kenn Borek Air used a DHC-6 Twin Otter aircraft to rescue Dr. Ronald Shemenski from the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station. This was the first ever rescue from the South Pole during the southern winter. To achieve the range necessary for this flight, the Twin Otter was equipped with a special ferry tank.

In 2009, the company was commissioned to recover a crashed aircraft in the Antarctic, and employees spent 25 days in a makeshift camp to complete the project.

The airline was used by the BBC during the filming of the documentary Frozen Planet (2011), which was narrated by David Attenborough, and one of its planes is seen in portions of the footage.

In June 2016 the company assisted in removing two sick workers from Antarctica during the polar winter. Two Twin Otter aircraft were used and successfully completed the mission. The crew, captain Wally Dobchuk, first officer Sebastian Trudel and maintenance engineer Michael McCrae were honoured for their heroism by Aviation Week.

In 2020 one of the airline's converted DC-3s was used by NASA to drop probes along Greenland's Atlantic coast, as part of the NASA's annual Oceans Melting Greenland project. The project is intended to monitor the rate at which Greenland's ice cap melts into the sea.

Operations

Kenn Borek Air offers a full service overhaul maintenance hangar in Calgary with routine maintenance being completed wherever the aircraft is located.

In the months from September to March it operates significantly in Presidente Carlos Ibáñez del Campo International Airport in Punta Arenas, Chile. Flights to Antarctica depart from there.

Destinations

As of March 2025, Kenn Borek operates scheduled services to several communities in the Northwest Territories as Aklak Air:

Fort McPherson (Fort McPherson Airport only when the ice road is closed or the ferry is not in operation)

Accidents and incidents

On 28 February 1977, Douglas C-47A C-FIQR crashed near Salluit (then known as Sugluk), Quebec. The aircraft was not repairable and was used for parts.

On 21 December 1977, DHC-6 C-FABW crashed near Nanisivik Airport, Nunavut. Damaged beyond repair. Two crew and six passengers were killed. Probable cause was a flap rod failure.

On 18 September 1978, Douglas C-47A C-FCRW was damaged beyond economic repair in a landing accident at Komakuk Beach, Yukon.

On 7 May 1982, Douglas C-47A C-FQHF overran the runway at Calgary International Airport following an aborted take-off. The aircraft was damaged beyond economic repair.

In May 1982, DHC-6 C-GKBO broke through the polar ice after landing at the North Pole with a group of tourists. All onboard evacuated safely and were rescued by another aircraft, however the Twin Otter had sunk out of sight within six hours of the accident.

On 10 November 1987, DHC-4A Caribou aircraft C-GVYX, crashed near Ross River, Yukon, two crew were killed.