St. John’s International Airport (YYT) — Airport Guide 2026
Newfoundland’s capital sits closer to Dublin than to Vancouver, and YYT — the continent’s easternmost major airport — is the first landfall for many transatlantic flights, and the last for those heading east.
Quick Reference
YYT / CYYT
~10 km north of downtown St. John’s, Newfoundland & Labrador
Newfoundland Time — UTC−3:30
Canadian dollar (CAD)
Canada — CBSA
CAD $7 online; US citizens exempt
Metrobus route 14, ~CAD $3 (exact change), Mon–Sat
~CAD $25–30, ~15 min
Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge (not Priority Pass)
Air Canada, WestJet, PAL Airlines, Porter
🏢 Terminal & Position
Single terminal, comfortably sized for the traffic of a provincial capital. Air Canada and WestJet run the mainline routes to Halifax, Toronto, and Montréal; PAL Airlines — Newfoundland-based, worth knowing by name — covers the regional network across the province and the Maritimes; Porter has joined the schedule. Traffic is domestic-heavy, with seasonal additions. The operational wildcard is Atlantic weather: fog and storms rather than congestion.
The geographic position is the actual story. YYT sits at the eastern edge of the continent — closer to Ireland than to much of Canada — and the great-circle routes from Western Europe pass almost directly overhead. First landfall eastbound, last stop westbound.
🛂 Border, eTA & the Half-Hour Trap
International arrivals clear CBSA via Primary Inspection Kiosks or the Advance CBSA Declaration app. The border is standard Canadian — no entry fee beyond the eTA.
The eTA. Visa-exempt nationals (UK, most EU, Australia, Japan, and many more) must hold a valid Canadian eTA before boarding an air departure to Canada. Cost: CAD $7, applied for online before travel. US citizens and US permanent residents are exempt. The eTA applies to air arrivals only.
Currency. Canadian dollars throughout. Rough conversions: CAD $1 ≈ US$0.73 / €0.68. Tipping runs 15–20%; GST plus Newfoundland’s provincial tax is added at the till.
🛂 eTA — CAD $7, apply online before you fly
Visa-exempt nationals need it; US citizens do not. There is no on-arrival option. One application covers multiple trips for up to five years — get it sorted before you board.
⚠️ The Newfoundland half-hour — the one thing to get right
Newfoundland runs on UTC−3:30, a half-hour ahead of Atlantic Time and the only half-hour offset in North America. If your itinerary reads “14:00 arrival,” that is Newfoundland local time. The mismatch catches connections, car pickups, and hotel check-ins. Verify every time locally before you plan anything.
🚌 Getting Into the City
No rail anywhere in Newfoundland, so the choice is bus or cab.
Metrobus route 14 serves two stops at the airport — one by the arrivals hall, one on World Parkway near the Holiday Inn Express — running into the St. John’s metro area for a flat CAD $3 (exact change only). Operates Monday to Saturday with seasonal schedules; no Sunday service. Reaching the city centre typically requires a transfer to another route (such as the 10), which pushes the total journey past an hour. It is cheap. For most travellers, its schedule gaps and transfer requirement make it a secondary option.
Taxis from the rank cost roughly CAD $25–30 into downtown, about 15 minutes. For a city 10 km away, with no Sunday bus and a likely transfer, the cab is the practical default.
🚌 Metrobus route 14 — CAD $3, exact change
Mon–Sat only; no Sunday service. Drivers do not make change — bring coins. A transfer (often to route 10) adds time; budget over an hour door to door.
🚕 Taxi — CAD $25–30, ~15 min
Rank outside arrivals. Short distance, quick ride, no transfer. For most people at YYT, this is simply the correct call.
🛋️ Lounge
One airside lounge: the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge, post-security on level two between gates 10 and 12A. Open daily from approximately 4 a.m. to 6:15 p.m. The interior draws on Newfoundland-inspired décor — more considered than most regional lounges. Seating, snacks, drinks, and Wi-Fi.
Access: Air Canada business class on eligible fares, Aeroplan or Star Alliance status, or a Maple Leaf Lounge membership. Air Canada does not participate in Priority Pass at any of its lounges, and YYT is no exception. There is no Priority Pass lounge here.
🛋️ Maple Leaf Lounge — Air Canada access only
Gates 10–12A, airside level 2, open ~4 a.m.–6:15 p.m. daily. Priority Pass is not accepted and there is no alternative paid lounge at YYT. Without Air Canada status or a membership, plan on the gate areas.
🍽️ Food Before You Fly
Newfoundland’s food was built around cod and a long isolation from the mainland, and it has kept its own shape. The things worth eating:
- Fish and chips — cod, properly done. This is the right place for it.
- Fish cakes — same tradition, different form; often a breakfast item.
- Jiggs’ dinner — boiled salt beef with vegetables, a Sunday institution that turns up on menus mid-week too.
- Toutons — fried bread dough served with molasses. A local oddity that holds up.
For the carry-home: a bottle of Screech rum is the obvious move; partridgeberry or bakeapple jam if you want something that doesn’t travel everywhere else.
The screech-in ceremony — Screech rum, a cod to kiss, an oath of allegiance, instant honorary Newfoundlander status — runs at some restaurants and pubs. It is openly tourist-facing and cheerfully absurd. Whether that is a reason to do it or skip it is a personal call.
🐟 Cod fish and chips — the honest baseline
Shorter supply chain than almost anywhere else on the continent. Order it before a flight, not as an afterthought.
💡 Layover & What to Do With a Few Hours
The airport is 10 km from downtown, which makes the city genuinely accessible on a medium layover — with one non-negotiable caveat: confirm your gap in Newfoundland local time (UTC−3:30) before you plan anything outside the terminal.
Signal Hill is the efficient single stop. The fortified headland above the harbour narrows is where Guglielmo Marconi received the first transatlantic wireless signal in 1901; Cabot Tower stands at the top, and the view sweeps the city, the Narrows, and the open Atlantic. Cab is about 15 minutes each way. A 3–4 hour layover reaches Signal Hill and the top of the downtown streets — the vividly painted “jellybean row” terraces, George Street (reputedly the highest pub density per metre in the country) — with a workable return-security buffer.
Cape Spear — the easternmost point of North America, with a lighthouse and whale and iceberg sightings in season — sits about 25 minutes south of the city. It requires a 5-hour-plus layover with comfortable margins.
Under three hours: stay airside. The city is close, but the cab wait, the time-zone check, and the return buffer make a short excursion a gamble you are likely to lose.
📍 Signal Hill — the correct layover stop
Cab, ~15 min each way. The view, Cabot Tower, the Marconi first-transatlantic-signal story. With 3–4 hours of confirmed Newfoundland time, this is the one excursion that fits cleanly.
⚠️ Cape Spear needs 5+ hours, minimum
Easternmost point on the continent, 25 minutes south. Worth the trip — just not on a short layover. Confirm your gap in local time before committing.
🧭 Practical Notes
- Time zone first. UTC−3:30 is a genuine trap. Read all connections, car hires, and pickups in Newfoundland local time before you plan anything.
- No Sunday bus. Metrobus route 14 runs Monday to Saturday only. Arriving Sunday means a cab from the start; budget CAD $25–30.
- Exact change required. Route 14 does not make change — CAD $3 in coins or skip the bus.
- Maple Leaf Lounge is not Priority Pass. There is no Priority Pass option at YYT.
- eTA for visa-exempt visitors. CAD $7, online, before you travel. US citizens are exempt.
- Reduced-mobility assistance is available at no charge — arrange it through your airline before arrival.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
📊 At a glance — YYT 2026
| Feature | Detail |
|---|---|
| Official name | St. John’s International Airport |
| IATA / ICAO | YYT / CYYT |
| Location | ~10 km north of downtown St. John’s, Newfoundland & Labrador |
| Time zone | Newfoundland Time — UTC−3:30 (half-hour offset, unique in North America) |
| Terminals | One |
| Rail to centre | None — no rail in Newfoundland |
| Bus to centre | Metrobus route 14 → ~CAD $3 (exact change), Mon–Sat; transfer often required; no Sunday service |
| Taxi / rideshare | ~CAD $25–30, ~15 min |
| Currency | Canadian dollar (CAD) |
| Border | Canada — CBSA |
| eTA required | Yes — CAD $7 online before travel; US citizens exempt |
| Lounge | Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge (gates 10–12A; Air Canada access only; not Priority Pass) |
| Dominant carriers | Air Canada, WestJet, PAL Airlines, Porter |
| Short layover (3–4 hr) | Signal Hill by cab — ~15 min each way, Marconi story, Atlantic view |
| Longer layover (5 hr+) | Cape Spear — easternmost point of North America, ~25 min south |
