Lac la Biche Airport (CYLB), Alberta
Landing essentials
Whether you can land, whether you can refuel, and how customs works here.
Overview
Lac La Biche Airport, identified by the ICAO code CYLB and IATA code YLB, serves the community of Lac La Biche, Alberta, from a field elevation of 1,884 feet. The airport operates a single paved runway and falls under Skystar's ops tier 1 classification based on 2025 traffic figures. Business aviation activity, as tracked through FAA TFMSC data, represents the bulk of operations recorded at the field.
Runways
Lac la Biche Airport has one paved runway, 11/29, 5,700 ft long and 100 ft wide, with an asphalt surface.
Runway geometry from published threshold coordinates. Not for navigation.
Source: FAA Form 5010.
Customs
Lac la Biche Airport does not clear customs. The nearest port of entry is CFB Cold Lake (CYOD), 65 NM away.
Source: CBSA list of airports of entry.
Business aviation traffic
Lac la Biche Airport recorded 1,792 business aviation movements in 2025. Traffic peaks in March, May, June and November.
Cross-border movements to the United States, FAA TFMSC count. Peak month June, 167 movements in 2025.
FAA TFMSC records a movement outside the United States only when the flight enters US airspace. This is cross-border traffic, not total activity at the airfield.
Source: FAA TFMSC, cross-border movements, 2025.
Climate
Lac la Biche Airport averages 1.1 days above 90°F in July and 30.8 freeze days in December. July is the warmest month, with average highs of 73.6°F, and January the coldest, at 16.2°F.
Weather station is on the field. 1991–2020 climate normals.
Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada.
Alternates
Lac la Biche Airport has one alternate within 41 NM. The nearest alternate is Athabasca Airport (CYWM), 40.67 NM west.
Source: Skystar calculation from official coordinates.
Skystar at CYLB
We arrange catering, fuel and trip support here. Supplier prices reach you unchanged; our coordination fee sits on its own line.
The same order, priced two ways.
$2,400.00 catering order at CYLB.
Unchanged.
What the kitchen invoices us is what your quote reads.
One line, fixed.
It does not move with the size of the order.
At cost.
Passed on at the exact amount the processor took.
Market practice figures are industry averages, not a specific competitor.
Frequently asked questions
What is the runway length at CYLB?
Lac La Biche Airport, identified as CYLB, has a single paved runway, 11/29, measuring 5,700 feet long and 100 feet wide. The surface is asphalt. This is the only runway serving the field, so all fixed-wing traffic uses this strip regardless of wind direction preference. The 5,700-foot length accommodates a range of business aviation aircraft operating into the airport. Dispatchers planning into CYLB should confirm current runway condition reports separately, as this figure reflects published length rather than usable landing distance under all conditions.
Is customs available on-site at CYLB?
Lac La Biche Airport does not have customs service on-site. The nearest customs airport of entry is CYOD, located approximately 64.81 nautical miles away. Flights requiring customs clearance and arriving from international origins need to route through CYOD or another designated port of entry before or after operating at CYLB. Operators should plan clearance logistics accordingly, since Lac La Biche itself offers no customs processing capability. This distance should factor into fuel and routing plans for any international arrival.
How much business aviation traffic does CYLB see?
Lac La Biche Airport, or CYLB, recorded 1,792 business aviation operations in 2025 out of 1,860 total annual operations, according to FAA TFMSC data. As this data reflects cross-border traffic seen by the FAA rather than total airport activity, since Canada is the country of record. Monthly figures ranged from a low of 126 operations in February to a high of 167 in June. Traffic stayed fairly consistent throughout the year without sharp seasonal peaks. This places CYLB in ops tier 1 within the Skystar classification system.
What is the elevation at Lac La Biche Airport?
Lac La Biche Airport sits at a field elevation of 1,884 feet. This elevation should factor into density altitude and performance calculations, particularly during summer months when maximum temperatures at CYLB climb toward the 70s Fahrenheit. The airport is located in Alberta, Canada, in the America / Edmonton time zone. Operators planning flights into CYLB should account for this elevation alongside runway length when calculating takeoff and landing performance margins.
What airport is nearest to CYLB for alternate planning?
Athabasca Airport lies approximately 40.67 nautical miles from Lac La Biche Airport, on a bearing of 268 degrees, making it the nearest listed neighboring airport. Dispatchers evaluating alternates for CYLB may consider this proximity when building contingency plans, particularly since Lac La Biche has only one paved runway. Distance and bearing data are drawn from the airport's neighbor listing rather than flight-planning software, so operators should verify current alternate suitability independently. Runway and services information at Athabasca should be checked separately before selecting it as an alternate.