YSB - Your Guide to Greater Sudbury Airport

Located about a 20 minute drive from the city centre of Sudbury, YSB is a terrific regional airport.

Arrivals:

Taxi time - After touching down, you will not be sitting on a taxiing plane for long.

Ground Transportation - There is no city bus service to YSB. There are shuttles into the city availible, but they are on the steep side. It is cheaper to take a shuttle over a taxi if you are by yourself, but if you are not alone, take a cab. Or rent a car - Avis, Enterprise and National are all there, and I found their prices resonable for an airport location.

Wait for luggage - This is not a major worry into YSB. By the time I had the key to my car, my bag was on the belt.

Departures:

From the city - When I was in Sudbury in May, the gas station between the airport and the city was being renovated, and I had to buy gas in Sudbury proper. The needle on the gas gauge didn't move in those 20 kilometres... There is minimal traffic heading out towards the airport, and 20 minutes will get you from downtown to the airport.

Terminal - YSB is a beautiful little airport. There is ample room at the check-in desks for Air Canada, Porter and Bearskin. The hallways are wide and bright. There is plenty of room to sit pre and post security. A nice feature is a model AC 747 in the arrivals area.

The highlight of YSB is the Sky Vue Restaurant on the second level. Their porketta sandwich is the best thing I have ever eaten in an airport. They have Steam Whistle Pilsner on tap, and instead of fries, you can get homemade potato chips. The view is over the ramp area, which is terrific for spotting. Whilst not a super busy airport, I saw three Bearskin Metroliners, a few GA planes and a water bomber take off.

Security is opened about 45 minutes prior to departure, so you do not have to be in the sterile room for too long. The only bad part of the experience, wasn't really that bad - Porter and Air Canada were both departing within minutes of each other, so there were a lot of people getting in the wrong lines.

Taxi Time - We were loaded in no time, and taxiied for no more than 5 minutes before we took off towards the west.

Overall:

YSB is one of the better small airports I have been to. I had plenty of time before my flight, and did not get bored. The Authority does a great job keeping the airport maintained and clean. The Restaurant is terrific. I had a great experience, so much so that the next time I need to go to Sudbury I will fly again, rather than drive the five hours from Mississauga.

The Sudbury economy is doing pretty well, and I can see YSB growing the list of destinations in the coming years.

Destinations:
Air Canada Express - Toronto YYZ (DH1, DH3, DH4)

Porter Airlines - Toronto YTZ (DH4)

Bearskin Airlines - Ottawa, Timmins, Sault Ste. Marie, Thunder Bay, North Bay, Kapuskasing (SW4)

http://www.flysudbury.ca/flysudbury/