Winnipeg Richardson International Airport (YWG) is 8 km and fifteen to twenty-five minutes west of downtown Winnipeg, with a single terminal opened in 2011 and served by Air Canada, WestJet, Flair, Porter and the US carriers. From London, Ontario you fly there non-stop from Pearson, on WestJet from Hamilton, on Flair from Waterloo, or via YXU; at the far end a chauffeur meets you in the arrivals hall inside the doors with your name on a board - a directory-vetted Winnipeg operator booked by LondonLimo.net's London desk on your account. This page describes the airport, the short drive, the city and the booking as a London traveller meets them.
Why a London traveller books the Winnipeg end through us
Winnipeg is the centre of the country in more than geography: the grain and agri-food companies that London's food-processing and equipment suppliers serve, the insurance and finance head offices, the Canadian Museum for Human Rights and the festivals, the University of Manitoba, the Jets at Canada Life Centre, and the families with relatives across the Prairies. The airport is close to the city and taxis are reasonable, which makes the case for a chauffeur the usual one: the name board, the fixed arrangement, the day by the hour and one invoice with the London-side run. The Winnipeg operator is vetted through the LimousineWorldwide.Directory and contracted to our standard; Manitoba's licensing applies and is on file.
| Detail | Winnipeg (YWG) |
|---|---|
| From London, Ontario | Non-stop from Pearson (2 h 30), Hamilton (WestJet), Waterloo (Flair); via YXU |
| Terminal | Single terminal opened in 2011; domestic and international halls; US preclearance |
| Airlines | Air Canada, WestJet, Flair, Porter, United, Delta and seasonal carriers |
| Drive to the centre | 8 km, 15-25 min to downtown and The Forks; the University of Manitoba 30 min |
| Meeting point | Arrivals hall inside the doors, name board; or curbside |
| Local rates | Quoted by the London desk; the London-side run priced on the engine |
The terminal
The 2011 terminal is a single, bright, glass-fronted building with check-in and the CATSA checkpoint on the upper level, US preclearance, and the arrivals hall with the carousels on the ground level exiting to a covered curb. It is among the easiest terminals in the country to use, and the airport's site has the maps, the flight board and the parking; the chauffeur waits inside the doors.
Where the chauffeur meets you
In the arrivals hall inside the doors with a name board, or curbside on the arrivals roadway when you text; the London desk sends the Winnipeg chauffeur's details the evening before and tracks the flight, timed to Central time. Thirty minutes of wait is included on a domestic arrival and sixty on an international one.
The drive: Wellington, Portage and the city
Wellington Avenue and Portage Avenue run straight east from the airport to downtown in fifteen minutes; The Forks, the Exchange District and the hotels are together at the centre; the University of Manitoba is thirty minutes south by Pembina Highway; St. Boniface across the Red River is twenty. The city's site and Tourism Winnipeg describe the districts; the network chauffeur knows the underpasses that flood and the streets that drift.
Business Winnipeg
The grain exchange and the agri-food companies, the insurance and mutual-fund head offices, the aerospace plants near the airport, the provincial government and the hospitals: a London company's Winnipeg day is an hourly booking with the chauffeur waiting, built by the London desk on the corporate account with the Pearson flight at both ends.
The Jets, Folklorama and the calendar
The Jets at Canada Life Centre, the Blue Bombers at Princess Auto Stadium, Folklorama in August, the Folk Festival at Birds Hill, the Festival du Voyageur in February, the Canadian Museum for Human Rights at The Forks: Winnipeg's calendar draws Londoners as visitors, and a network SUV at YWG, a downtown hotel and the event's transport are one plan by the London desk with the travel desk.
Winter at Portage and Main
Winnipeg's winter is famous and the city runs through it: the airport de-ices, the streets are cleared, and the network chauffeur's vehicle is warm and on winter tires from November. Flights from Toronto delayed by weather at either end are tracked and never charged, and the chauffeur allows for the drifting on the airport approach.
The University of Manitoba, the families and the Prairies
Students from London at the University of Manitoba and the University of Winnipeg, families with relatives in Winnipeg and the Prairie towns, and the Mennonite communities of southern Manitoba with cousins in Southwestern Ontario: the Winnipeg run is a family route, and the household account books both ends - a LondonLimo.net run to Pearson or Hamilton and a network sedan at YWG - on one confirmation.
Transit and the honest alternatives
Winnipeg Transit's airport routes reach downtown for a transit fare; taxis are close and metered fairly; rideshare operates. The chauffeur wins for the name board, the fixed quoted rate, the family with luggage in January and the single invoice.
Three Winnipeg bookings, as they actually ran
An agri-food supplier, Wednesday. A London engineer on the Air Canada non-stop from Pearson; a network sedan at YWG; a day of meetings downtown and at a plant in Transcona by the hour; the 6:30 p.m. flight; a LondonLimo.net chauffeur at Terminal 1 at 9:40. On the corporate account.
A Jets weekend, December. Four friends from London on WestJet from Hamilton; a network SUV at YWG; the hotel, the game, The Forks at minus twenty-five, and the airport Sunday. The travel desk booked the rooms.
A graduate student, September. A Western graduate starting at the University of Manitoba, on Flair from Waterloo; a network sedan at YWG; residence by 3. On the parents' household account.
How the far end works. Chauffeurs at this airport are directory-vetted operators found through the LimousineWorldwide.Directory, contracted to LondonLimo.net's published standard and booked by our London desk on your account: the same vehicle classes, the same confirmation, the local chauffeur's details the evening before, one invoice. Local rates are quoted by the desk; the London-side run is priced on the engine. Airport and airline names describe where we drive and imply no affiliation.
How the network booking actually works
Book the London-side run on the reservation engine - Old South to Pearson Terminal 1 for the Air Canada non-stop, for instance - and tell the desk you want a chauffeur at Winnipeg. The desk checks the Winnipeg operator's availability, quotes the rate, adds the leg to your confirmation with the hall and the vehicle class, and the evening before sends the chauffeur's details timed to Central time. The operator holds Manitoba's licensing, carries hire insurance, screens its chauffeurs, inspects its vehicles and works to our signed standard; a problem on Portage Avenue is a call to our desk in London. The Winnipeg leg appears on your LondonLimo.net invoice at the quoted rate.
What the Winnipeg legs cost, honestly
The airport is close to the city, so the YWG-to-downtown run is among the least expensive network legs on this site and the desk quotes it before you confirm; hourly days and the lake-country runs are quoted in the same way, in a band comparable to our London figures. The London-side run to Pearson, Hamilton or Waterloo is on the engine, and booking both ends together costs nothing extra.
Groups, conferences and the RBC Convention Centre
A London company's delegation to the RBC Convention Centre, an agri-food group to a plant tour, a Western team to the University of Manitoba: a network Sprinter or van at YWG, the shuttles and the return are quoted from the schedule with a manifest as the group transportation page describes, with the network's Winnipeg coach operators for larger groups.
Winnipeg's hotels, from the chauffeur's seat
The Fort Garry beside Union Station, the Fairmont at Portage and Main, the Delta and the Alt in the downtown core, the Inn at The Forks, and the airport hotels on Wellington Avenue for early departures. The travel desk books the room with the flights and the chauffeurs; the network chauffeur knows the Jets' game-night closures around Canada Life Centre and the Winnipeg city site publishes the street work.
Churchill, the lakes and the runs beyond the city
Winnipeg is the gateway to Manitoba's lake country and, by air, to Churchill's polar bears; a London family's Manitoba trip that starts at YWG continues to a lake cottage at Gimli or Grand Beach by network SUV, or to a Churchill flight from the same terminal, and the desk plans the connection. The Mennonite towns of the south - Steinbach, Winkler, Altona - are an hour by network chauffeur for the cousins from Southwestern Ontario.
Booking checklist
The flight number and the airline at both ends; the Winnipeg address or hotel; meet and greet or curbside; the vehicle class; the hours if it is a day by the hour; and the account or card. The desk confirms both ends in one email, timed to Central time.
Winnipeg's airport for the London family and the student
Students from London at the University of Manitoba, the University of Winnipeg and Red River College fly home in December and April with a network chauffeur from Fort Garry or downtown to YWG and a LondonLimo.net chauffeur at the Ontario end; parents fly west for graduation with a network sedan inside the doors; relatives in Winnipeg's suburbs and the Prairie towns are collected for a flight to London on the same household account. Tourism Winnipeg describes the city for a first visit.
The flights, in practice
Air Canada and WestJet fly Pearson-Winnipeg several times a day; WestJet flies Hamilton-Winnipeg and Flair flies Waterloo-Winnipeg by season; the two-and-a-half-hour flight lands an hour earlier by the clock. The Hamilton and Waterloo pages have the London ends, and the desk checks the week's schedule before booking the Winnipeg chauffeur.
Winter driving, for the visitor
Winnipeg's streets are cleared and sanded but the cold is dry and severe; the network chauffeur's vehicle is warm, plugged in overnight and on winter tires from November, and the walk from the covered curb to the car is short. A visitor from London should pack for minus twenty-five in January and let the chauffeur handle the rest.
Three questions the desk is asked about Winnipeg
Can the chauffeur wait through a Jets game? Yes, by the hour, with the pickup at the arena's designated door. Is there a hotel at the airport? Several on Wellington Avenue, five minutes from the terminal, booked through the travel desk for early departures. Can we continue to a lake cottage? Yes - Gimli, Grand Beach and the Whiteshell are quoted as fixed runs with the return on the same confirmation.
The Forks, the Exchange and the river
A visitor's Winnipeg is walkable once the chauffeur has delivered them: The Forks market and the Canadian Museum for Human Rights at the junction of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, the Exchange District's warehouses and theatres, the Legislative Building's grounds, Assiniboine Park and its zoo in the west end, and Osborne Village's cafes. The network chauffeur knows where to drop for each and where the car may wait; the travel desk books the tables and the tickets.
