As the global aviation community re-builds from the impact of the pandemic, Vancouver International Airport (YVR) reached an important milestone on August 5 as the airport hit the 10 million passenger mark year-to-date. And later this month YVR will also see its busiest single day of operations since the pandemic began, when over 70,130 passengers are expected to travel through the airport on Sunday, August 21.
“This is an important moment in our recovery. Our ability to welcome over 10 million passengers so far this year is due to the hard work of our staff, airlines, government, partners and the airport community at large. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the 20,000 people who work at our airport for their dedication to serving our passengers over the past several months. Their efforts have been an essential element of our recovery,” said Tamara Vrooman, President & CEO, Vancouver Airport Authority.
“However, there is still considerable work to be done to ensure the stability of the overall aviation sector. But after only seeing approximately 2 million passengers at this same point last year, it is very encouraging that we are able to continue to build back while avoiding many of the security and major operational delays impacting passengers around the world.”
Over the past few months airlines have made important decisions to continue to invest in service restoration and expansion at Vancouver International Airport, including Air Canada launching Austin and announcing new service to Bangkok and Miami commencing this winter.
Going forward the operational impact of the pandemic on aviation is akin to the virus itself – it is still very unpredictable. YVR will continue to work closely with all industry stakeholders as passenger numbers continue to increase, and we remind travellers to please remain current on government travel policy requirements.
