It was bordered by Yellowhead Trail to the north, Kingsway to the south, 121 Street to the west, and the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) and Jefferson armouries to the east.

The airport was closed in November 2013, and as of 2018[update], the land was being redeveloped by the City of Edmonton as a planned community called Blatchford.

[5][failed verification] Characters such as Wop May, a World War I flying ace and bush pilot, helped pioneer aviation in Alberta and Northern Canada, further solidifying Blatchford Field as the "Gateway to the North".

The airport served as a military airbase during World War II, when it was a major stop-over on the Northwest Staging Route and hosted two British Commonwealth Air Training Plan schools.

[11] According to the September 24, 1950, Northwest Airlines system timetable, the air carrier was operating Douglas DC-4 propliner service on a routing of New York City - Washington, D.C. - Chicago - Minneapolis–Saint Paul - Edmonton - Anchorage - Tokyo four days a week with continuing service to Okinawa and Manila or Taipei depending on the day of the week.

In 1959, Canadian Pacific was operating international service to Europe with four nonstop flights a week flown with Douglas DC-6B "Empress" propliners between Edmonton and Amsterdam with these flights originating and terminating in Vancouver and was also operating local domestic service with Convair 240 prop aircraft to Grande Prairie, Alberta and Fort St. John, British Columbia.

[12] A year earlier in 1958, Trans-Canada was flying Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation and Canadair North Star (a Canadian produced version of the DC-4) propliners in addition to Vickers Viscount turboprops on nonstop services to Vancouver, Toronto, Winnipeg and Saskatoon as well as direct, no change of plane flights to Montreal.

[14] By 1964, Pacific Western had expanded its domestic service from the airport with the addition of regional flights to Cambridge Bay, Coppermine (now Kugluktuk), Dawson Creek, Fort Simpson and Wrigley as well as to the Resolute Bay Airport in the Arctic which is the second most northerly destination in Canada served by scheduled airline flights.

[4] The runway lengths at ECCA mandated the absolute maximum performance characteristics of the Boeing 737-200 jetliner due to its weight; however, the extreme wear caused by utilizing this airfield and pushing these limits was a concern.

McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 jets in Air Canada livery operated briefly out of ECCA in the mid 1980s but left due to field / weight limitations.

[18] Both the Twin Otter and Dash 7 have short takeoff and landing (STOL) capabilities so runway length was not an issue for these particular aircraft types.

[19] By early 1985, Pacific Western was operating eighteen nonstop Boeing 737-200 flights every weekday from the airport to Calgary via its "Chieftain Airbus" shuttle schedule linking the two cities.

[22][failed verification] Also in contrast at this same time, there was only one nonstop flight a day operated on the weekdays from Edmonton International to Calgary with this service being flown by CP Air.

[23][failed verification] According to the April 28, 1985 Pacific Western system timetable, in addition to its nonstop flights to Calgary the airline was operating direct, no change of plane 737 jet service from the airport to the Canadian destinations of Vancouver, Toronto, Winnipeg, Regina, Saskatoon, Cranbrook, Fort McMurray, Kamloops, Kelowna and Penticton.

Time Air was also operating nonstop flights into the airport from other locations besides Calgary in 1985 including Grande Prairie and Peace River with these services being flown with Convair 640 turboprops as well as with the Dash 7.

In 1985, Pacific Western was operating direct, no change of plane Boeing 737-200 jet service to Seattle via intermediate stops at Calgary and Vancouver.

Beginning with the July 2011 event, the track layout was reconfigured to use a more northeasterly section of the airport, including runway 16/34 (which had been permanently closed).

To accommodate demands for ever-increasing range, new generations of jet aircraft became increasingly larger and heavier, resulting in the need for a longer set of runways.

Edmonton entered into fifty years of airport debates shaped by issues of logistics, transportation, and regional disparities.

To the north of the city, a World War II military base (now CFB Edmonton) had been built at Namao by the United States Army Air Forces.

In the 1950s, the base was expanded to handle Strategic Air Command military bomber aircraft, including the longest runway in Canada.

[44][45] Work to extend the Metro line of Edmonton's LRT network to Blatchford began in June 2020, and it is expected to open in 2024 or 2025.

On-site amenities included the Alberta Aviation Museum, two hotels, and a cafeteria in the Edmonton Flying Club's building.

Further amenities located close to the airport included shopping at Kingsway Mall, lodging at the Chateau Louis hotel, and a Via Rail train station to the north, off Bush Pilot Road.

Proximity to the Royal Alexandra Hospital provided a link for emergency medical access by air to many of Alberta's rural communities.