An Airstrip was constructed east of Buchans Lake in 1942. It was constructed initially by the Canadian Department of Transport with the permission of the government of the Dominion of Newfoundland for use by the Canadian Department of National Defence. Its two gravel runways were maintained by a small resident staff until 1965. At that time, most of the buildings and equipment at the site were removed; the three houses for airstrip staff were relocated to Buchans. Eastern Provincial Airways also briefly included Buchans as a stop/destination on one of its routes—this occurred in the summer of 1956. While the northwest runway was rarely used even between 1942 and 1965 (drainage issues with the site), and fell into complete disrepair at the end of that period, the southwest-northeast runway has been repaired from time to time for use in more recent decades.