Military air base operations

The Royal Air Force (RAF) constructed the airfield at the strategic location of Comox in spring 1942. RAF Station Comox was built to guard against any possible threat from the Imperial Japanese Navy to North America.

In approximately 1942, the aerodrome was listed as RCAF Aerodrome - Comox, British Columbia at 49°43′N 124°54′W with no listed variation or elevation. The aerodrome was listed as "Under construction - Serviceable" with two runways as follows:

In 1943, the RCAF took over control of the airfield, renaming the facility RCAF Station Comox. The RCAF used Comox for training crews of transport aircraft for the rest of World War II, basing a training squadron flying the Douglas Dakota in 1944.

From 1946 until 1952, the base was mothballed until tensions resulting from the Korean War and Cold War prompted reactivation and the establishment of a permanent RCAF base on Canada's Pacific coast.

The 407 Long Range Patrol Squadron initially used the Avro Lancaster then Lockheed P2V-7 Neptune, followed by the Canadair CP-107 Argus and now the Lockheed CP-140 Aurora.

The 409 Tactical Fighter Squadron was equipped with the Lockheed T-33 and Avro Canada CF-100 Canuck, followed by the McDonnell CF-101 Voodoo, an example of which can be found on display at the main entrance of 19 Wing.

In 1954, Comox became home to a Pinetree Line radar early-warning station, operated by the 51 Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron (radar). This facility was closed in June 1958 with the advent of more advanced radar systems such as the Mid-Canada Line and the Distant Early Warning Line (DEW Line).

In 1964, RCAF Station Sea Island near Vancouver International Airport was closed and turned over to the Canadian Coast Guard. Sea Island's 121 Composite Unit moved to Comox and was reorganized as 442 Transport and Rescue Squadron, flying the Grumman HU-16 Albatross fixed-wing and Piasecki H-21 helicopter, later re-equipping with the CH-113 Labrador and de Havilland Canada DHC-5 Buffalo. The Labrador helicopter was replaced with the AgustaWestland CH-149 Cormorant starting in 2001.

On February 1, 1968, the RCAF merged with the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) and Canadian Army to form the unified Canadian Armed Forces. RCAF Station Comox was renamed Canadian Forces Base Comox, shortened to CFB Comox. During a 1975 reorganization of the Canadian Forces, Air Command (AIRCOM) was created to operate the air element.

After CFB Comox began sharing the airport with scheduled airlines and other civilian aircraft, a Boeing 747 flown by Northwest Airlines became the first jumbo jet to operate into the field when it made an emergency landing there on June 5, 1979. The flight, chartered by the U.S. military to transport 368 active duty personnel and their families from Travis Air Force Base to Japan and South Korea, was over Cape Scott following an intermediate stop at Seattle–Tacoma International Airport when fire broke out in one of the aircraft's engines. Efforts to extinguish the flames were unsuccessful; the crew declared an emergency and requested permission to land on the 10,000 ft (3,000 m) runway at CFB Comox. Though no flames were visible, the fire warning light was still flashing in the cockpit as the plane landed. There were no injuries to the passengers or to the 13 crew members. Base officials, practised at hosting large numbers of Canadian Forces personnel, ensured that the plane's occupants were comfortable while awaiting a new aircraft to carry them to their destinations.

In 1980, 407 Squadron began re-equipping with the Lockheed CP-140 Aurora. In 1984, 409 Squadron moved from CFB Comox to CFB Cold Lake leaving the base with the duties of coastal patrol, anti-submarine and transport missions, and search and rescue (SAR) missions.

In 1989, a strike force of United States Air Force deployed Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers from the Washington Air National Guard to CFB Comox as part of the annual Global Shield Exercise. The deployment, which included vehicles, equipment and armed personnel arriving by landing craft at a local beach, prompted some locals to ask whether the United States was invading Canada.

Commercial airline service

During the late 1950s, Pacific Western Airlines served the airfield with nonstop and one-stop direct flights to Vancouver operated with Douglas DC-3 aircraft with the one-stop service being flown via Campbell River, British Columbia. By the early 1960s, the airline had expanded their DC-3 service with nonstop flights to Port Hardy as well. Pacific Western then introduced turboprop service with the Convair 640 (which the airline called the "Javelin Jet-Prop") while continuing to operate nonstop flights to Vancouver, Port Hardy, and Campbell River during the late 1960s. The airline then began operating jet service into the airfield with the Boeing 737 and in 1975 was operating two nonstop 737 flights a day to Vancouver. Pacific Western would continue to serve Comox with Boeing 737-200 jet flights through the mid-1980s by which time the air carrier had become an all-jet airline.