Sudbury Airport began as an emergency landing facility with a single landing strip for
CF-100s from
CFB North Bay in 1952. On February 25, 1953, the Sudbury Airport Committee was formed to lobby and arrange for commercial flights to Sudbury. A second landing strip and a terminal building had to be built and construction of these were completed in 1955. Regular commercial air service began on February 1, 1954, by
Trans-Canada Air Lines. Other destinations were added in the following years. In June 2008, under recommendation from Nav Canada following a year-long aeronautical study, the
control tower was closed mainly due to lack of traffic. The airport is now staffed 24 hours as a
flight service station. In March 2012, after
WestJet confirmed its plans to launch a regional airline, Gregg Saretsky said in an interview with
The Globe and Mail that Sudbury was one of the cities where the company was considering expanding its service. However, Sudbury was not chosen as a destination. The manager of the airport suggested in 2014 that the airport would have to see considerable growth in passenger traffic before WestJet would consider returning to Sudbury. In February 2017, WestJet did return to Sudbury using
WestJet Encore for three daily flights to Toronto's Pearson International Airport, but stopped again in October 2018. WestJet had previously operated flights between Sudbury and
Hamilton between 2001 and 2004. Airport tenants include a training facility operated by
MAG Aerospace and the
Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry's Sudbury Forest Fire Management Centre. COVID-19 had impact to carrier flights serving the airport post pandemic when other markets had seen traffic volumes significantly recover. With drastic cuts on its regional fleet, Air Canada is down to two direct flights to Toronto Pearson a day with no direct competition. Porter currently operates one flight a day flying to Toronto Island's Billy Bishop Airport. ==Airlines and destinations==