So how do these pilots get passengers from one place to another? Navigation has evolved from following landmarks, reading the stars and creating maps to flying the skies with the help of Earth-orbiting satellites.

The Global Positioning System (GPS) has 27 satellites that circle the globe. They have taken over the navigation world.

"There's no guesswork. It's one of those things in life that seems too good to be true but it turned out to be true," said Colin Gunn, chief pilot for Unaalik Aviation in Iqaluit.

Gunn has been flying in the North since 1984. His first Northern excursions where in Nunavik where airports and navigation systems were at their most basic.

In the early 1990s, GPS was introduced.

"They came out commercially and that's the only way you could afford them," said Gunn.

With an average of 45 planes taking off or landing in Iqaluit every day, GPS is helping a lot of people. It's also saving airlines money. The planes rarely overshoot their landings nowadays and more accurate navigation saves 10 to 15 flying hours per aircraft a year.

"GPS tells you where you are in reference to a certain point and how long it will take to get there," said Alain Lauzon, Team Supervisor for NavCanada in Iqaluit.

The system was developed by the U.S. military.

Of the 27 satellites in the network, 24 are operational and three are kept as extras. Each satellite circles the Earth twice each day.

The GPS receiver, found inside a plane or used by hunters on long trips, must locate four or more of these satellites to function.

By measuring the distance from each, it can formulate an exact location.

It's based on a mathematical theory called triangulation.

Although GPS is great, Lauzon said the older technology still at the Iqaluit airport is good to have as a back-up system.

"In Iqaluit, there's a beacon which emits a signal and tells you it's there and the more sophisticated VHS omni-directional range. It tells a pilot which way to fly in order to find it," explained Lauzon.

The only thing that worries Gunn about GPS is the dependency pilots can have on it.

Gunn said GPS is so easy to understand and follow that it wouldn't take much to forget how to use the back-up system.

"Sometimes it's just good to shut the GPS off and go back to the old way. It's good practise," he explained.