The Financial Post reports in its Monday edition that each morning, travellers and cargo take off from Montreal's Trudeau airport for a 1,600-kilometre flight to Puvirnituq in Northern Quebec aboard a nearly 50-year-old Air Inuit plane. A Canadian Press dispatch to the Post says the well-worn Boeing 737 previously cruised the skies above Europe and Central Africa for now-defunct carriers in France, Gabon and the Congo. But now its trips are all-Canadian. The aging aircraft is no outlier in Canada, which plays host to more old jets deployed for passenger service than any other country. Their age can pose challenges for maintenance and fuel efficiency, but operators say they are ideally suited for commercial flights to remote destinations. Thirteen of the 30 oldest jets in the world carrying travellers on scheduled or charter routes are operating in Canada. All 13 are Boeing 737-200s between 42 and 52 years old. Venezuela is the runner-up, with six jets in the top 30. Counterintuitively, Canada's sprawling geography, harsh weather and rugged airstrips are the reason it relies more heavily on old planes. Much of the rationale boils down to unpaved runways. The 737-200 is the only jet aircraft approved to land on gravel.