MSFS scenery

MSFS Banff Airport (CYBA) Alberta, Canada Scenery

Banff Airport (CYBA) scenery restores the Banff National Park airfield as a usable strip, recreating a 1990s-era flying club atmosphere with day and night lighting, varied mountain vegetation, wildlife fencing, utility lines, and detailed Cascade Pond surroundings. It adds ramp or runway starts, a helipad, refueling, local ATC comms, plus optional static wildlife in Microsoft Flight Simulator.

4.8/5 (6) 2.1k downloads 29.9 MB Scanned clean

Canada

Flight Simulator 2020

Images & Screenshots

6 total

A small single-engine aircraft is parked on a grassy airstrip near a forest, with several other planes and a shelter visible by the trees.

A grassy airstrip is bordered by dense forest, with small aircraft parked near a wooden shelter and snow-capped mountains in the distance.

A small lake with two wooden footbridges is surrounded by dense forest, with a winding road and parked cars visible nearby.

A grass airstrip with several small aircraft is situated beside a highway, surrounded by dense forest and mountains at sunset.

A narrow runway with edge lights runs through a forested valley, with grazing animals and snow-capped mountains in the background.

A small snow-covered airfield with runway lights and parked cars is surrounded by dense forest and distant mountains at sunset.

Editor reviewed · Tested in-sim

Expert Overview

Banff Airport (CYBA) Alberta, Canada Scenery transforms what was previously an emergency-use airfield into a lively flight club environment ideal for exploring the dramatic Canadian Rockies. By restoring CYBA with day/night lighting, ATC communications, and a new refueling area, developer Rory McAlduff has brought back an airfield that had been dormant since the 1990s, all while capturing the charm of Banff National Park with dynamic tree variations and optional static wildlife.

Version 2.0 introduces the picturesque Cascade Pond, enhanced ground textures, and a helipad for more diverse operations. As someone who has navigated many virtual cockpits through the years, I appreciate how this add-on seamlessly blends scenery details—like detailed parking and fencing—into an immersive, scenic approach for MSFS 2020. It’s a joy for VFR flyers wanting a low-level tour of the Rockies and a must-have for anyone looking to broaden their Canadian airport collection.

A rendition of Banff Airport (CYBA) Alberta, Canada bringing the airport to active use in Microsoft Flight Simulator (MSFS) 2020 release.

Screenshot of Banff Airport (CYBA) at dusk in MSFS. The airport is listed as emergency use only in the real-world making it non-accessible in the sim.

This add-on by developer Rory McAlduff makes the airport functional within the sim and they have also brought it up to date adding new features and changes to the airport.

Banff CYBA is now version 2.0 which includes Cascade Pond and an optional static animal set.

This re-enables the Banff National Park airfield (CYBA) which is officially listed as emergency use only so is unfortunately unavailable in MSFS as a functional airfield by default.

I have returned the area into a flying club back before it got shut down in the 1990s

This area currently includes

Day/Night lighting
Increased the variation in trees, (there are more leafy trees than people realize in the mountains. Microsoft seems to think its all pine)
Static scenery/wildlife
Wildlife fencing along the highways, telephone/power poles, cut lines.
Detailed area for the cascade hiking area parking lot and cascade pond
Runway or ramp start options and a helipad for future use
Refueling area
ATC with local comms

Installation

Add the following to your MSFS "community" folder.

There are two folders provided...

CYBA Banff Airport and Area This is mandatory and has all of the scenery.
CYBA Banff Animals set This has a bunch of Banff's famous wildlife, but currently they are static. It does not need to be used if you do not want animals in your scenery.

The placement of animals is static for now but It is a representation of what I have driven past in this area and have seen happening. Not every day, but if you are gonna fly by, might as well have something to look at.

Feedback is welcome.

Developer: Rory McAlduff.

Currently, the developer does not publish a public donation page. If this changes we will add it here.

Ready to download Banff Airport (CYBA) Alberta, Canada Scenery?

Free for all simmers · 29.9 MB · Scanned clean

File information

Filename

msfs-cyba-banff.zip

File size

29.9 MB

Virus scan

Clean (scanned with ClamAV)

Access

Freeware

Content rating

Everyone

Download speed: Free tier is capped at 2 Mbps (this file takes approximately 2 mins at the cap). PRO members download at full line speed.

This is a freeware file — use is subject to our freeware copyright terms.

How to install this mod

MSFS scenery

Extract the downloaded archive

Use 7-Zip (free) or WinRAR to extract the ZIP to a temporary folder. Don't install while still zipped — the simulator can't read inside ZIP files.
Locate your MSFS Community folder

All MSFS add-ons live in the Community folder. Microsoft Store / Game Pass version: %LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\Microsoft.FlightSimulator_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalCache\Packages\Community\. Steam version: %APPDATA%\Microsoft Flight Simulator\Packages\Community\. Tip: enable Developer Mode in MSFS to see your exact Community folder path.
Copy the scenery package into Community

Drag the extracted scenery folder into your Community folder. Photogrammetry and large mesh packs can be 1GB+ — ensure you have disk space.
Restart MSFS

Close MSFS completely and relaunch. The new content appears in the Content Manager, on the World Map, or in the aircraft/livery selector.
Always read the included readme

Every mod ships with a readme.txt or README file. It tells you exactly where files go, what dependencies are needed, and any quirks specific to this add-on.