VANCOUVER AIRPORT (YVR)

Vancouver International Airport
*****************************

Control Tower
IATA: YVR – ICAO: CYVR
Summary
Airport type
Public
Owner
Transport Canada
Operator
Vancouver International Airport Authority
Serves
Vancouver, British Columbia
Location
Richmond, British Columbia
Elevation AMSL
14 ft / 4 m
Coordinates
49°11′41″N 123°11′02″W / 49.19472°N 123.18389°W / 49.19472; -123.18389 (Vancouver International Airport)Coordinates: 49°11′41″N 123°11′02″W / 49.19472°N 123.18389°W / 49.19472; -123.18389 (Vancouver International Airport)
Website
www.yvr.ca
Runways
Direction
Length
Surface
ft
m
08L/26R
9,940
3,029
Concrete
08R/26L
11,500
3,505
Asphalt/Concrete
12/30
7,300
2,225
Asphalt/Concrete
26A
3,500
1,066
Concrete
Helipads
Number
Length
Surface
ft
m
A
Unmarked arrival/departure hover area
B
79
24
Asphalt
C
110
34
Concrete
Statistics (2008)
Aircraft Movements
337,802
Number of Passengers
17,852,459
Sources: Canada Flight Supplement[1]Statistics from Transport Canada.[2]>Passenger statistics from Vancouver Airport Authority.[3]

Interior of the domestic terminal's check-in area for Air Canada.

International arrivals hall

Transborder check-in hall.

A Canadian Aboriginal wood sculpture, located on the first floor of the domestic terminal.

The Spirit of Haida Gwaii, the Jade Canoe, located on the International departure level

Construction of the Canada Line at Vancouver International.
Vancouver International Airport (IATA: YVR, ICAO: CYVR) is located on Sea Island in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada, about 12 km (7.5 mi) from Downtown Vancouver. In 2008 it was the second busiest airport in Canada by aircraft movements (337,802[2]) and passengers (17.8 million[3]), behind Toronto Pearson International Airport, with non-stop flights daily to Asia, Europe, Oceania, the United States, Mexico, the Caribbean, and other airports within Canada. The airport has won several notable international best airport awards, and it won the Skytrax Best North American Airport award in 2007.[4] YVR also retains the distinction of Best Canadian Airport in the regional results.[5] It is an Air Canada hub as well as a focus city for WestJet and a hub for Air Transat.
Vancouver International Airport is one of eight Canadian Airports that have U.S. border preclearance facilities.
Vancouver International Airport is owned by Transport Canada[6] and is managed by Vancouver International Airport Authority,[7] which also manages other airports around the world through its Vancouver Airport Services subsidiary.
Contents[hide]
1 History
2 Gateway
3 Terminals
4 Cost
5 Architecture
6 Public transit connections
7 Future expansion
8 Operation Yellow Ribbon
9 Airlines and destinations
9.1 Domestic terminal
9.2 International terminal
9.3 Preclearance transborder terminal
9.4 South terminal
9.5 Cargo only carriers
9.6 Proposed airlines
10 FBOs
11 Incidents
12 References
13 External links
History
In 1927, Charles Lindbergh refused to include Vancouver in his North American tour because of the lack of a proper airport. Two years later, the city purchased land on Sea Island for aviation purposes, replacing the original grass airstrip at Minoru Park. During WWII the airports and its original terminal, now the South Terminal, would be leased to the Federal government, and operated by the department of National Defence and Transport. The airport was a base for RCAF training, the crews and their families housed in a new townsite on the island, named Burkeville after Boeing president Stanley Burke. Funds from the lease was used to purchase additional land for new hangars and a production plant for Boeing Aircraft of Canada. [8]
The present main terminal was completed in 1968, and has since been expanded to include separate domestic and international terminals. A north runway was completed in 1996.

] Gateway
Due to its proximity to Asia in relation to the rest of Canada, YVR is a gateway between Canada and the rest of Asia. It has more transpacific flights than any other airport in Canada. The sizable number of Asian Canadians living in Vancouver contributes to the large number of flights as well.
By the 2010 Winter Olympics, Vancouver is expected to serve over 20 million passengers annually, ranking YVR in the Top 50 airports in the world by passenger traffic.

[edit] Terminals
Vancouver International Airport has four terminals: The domestic terminal, which was constructed in 1968 and recently given a top-to-bottom renovation; the International Terminal and Transborder, which was newly constructed in the mid to late 1990s, and the South Terminal, which is a portion of the original terminal that is still in use. The International and Domestic terminals can more or less be considered to be one building divided into two sections, while the South terminal is located in a remote part of the airport. The South Terminal serves regional airlines which fly mostly within British Columbia. The international terminal is divided into international departures and trans-border departures (to the USA only).

[edit] Cost
In May 2005, the federal government, which owns the land, announced it was cutting rent costs by 54%. The rent reductions will cut the cost of the lease by approximately $840 million CAD between 2006-2020, or $5.0 billion CAD over the term of the lease, which ends in 2052. Currently, the airport authority pays about $80 million CAD each year in rent.
Passengers traveling through YVR are no longer required to pay a separate Airport Improvement Fee; it now is included in the price of a ticket.

[edit] Architecture
Vancouver International Airport's interior has a uniquely B.C. theme, featuring one of the most extensive collections of Pacific Northwest Coast Native art in the world, and blues and greens to reflect the colours of the land, sea and sky. The airport uses a great deal of carpet and vast expanses of glass to let in large amounts of natural light. One of the most noticeable pieces in an arriving passenger's trip is the International arrivals hall, a large area where customs and immigration procedures are completed. Arriving passengers come down escalators leading to a platform across a large waterfall. The YVR aboriginal art collection includes wooden sculptures and totem poles. Bill Reid's sculpture in bronze, "The Spirit of Haida Gwaii, The Jade Canoe", is displayed in the international departures area.

[edit] Public transit connections
Currently, the domestic and international terminals are served by TransLink buses 424 and N10. Route 424 connects the airport to Airport Station, a stop on the 98 B-Line express bus route between Vancouver and Richmond. Route N10 is a night bus route that connects the airport to Downtown Vancouver and other locations when route 424 is not running. The South Terminal is served by route C92.
Vancouver International Airport has contributed up to $300 million to the Canada Line, a new SkyTrain line running from the airport to Downtown Vancouver (with another branch serving central Richmond) which will be completed by September 7, 2009, in time for the 2010 Winter Olympics. The total cost of the project is $2 billion. A Link Building ($117 million, completion 2007) will be the docking area for users of the metro line and will link the international terminal with the domestic terminal. When the line opens, Vancouver's airport will be the only one in Canada with a rapid transit connection.Future expansion
A nine-gate international terminal expansion will be done in two phases ($420 million; Phase 1 – 2007; Phase 2 – as soon as 2010). The first phase saw four new gates with two conventional wide-bodied gates and two able to accommodate the Airbus A380. The international terminal addition has several examples of beauty in British Columbia, including a stream in a proposed pathway and fish and jellyfish tanks (completed).