Nearly 900,000 spring breakers headed to YVR Airport this season

It’s a busy travel season ahead and Vancouver International Airport (YVR) is getting ready to see high passenger volumes.

YVR is set to welcome 880,573 passengers travelling through the airport between March 10 to 24.

That’s an average of 58,705 passengers per day. You could fill Rogers Arena three times with that many people.

The busiest travel days at YVR this spring break are expected to be March 15 and 24.

Travellers will be headed to popular spring break destinations, like Toronto, Los Angeles, and Hong Kong.

Spring break is here! With over 880,000+ passengers expected over the next 2 weeks, arrive early, get the right tech loaded onto your phone, and brush up on CATSA security measures to make your journey through YVR as seamless as possible. More: https://t.co/8ETUxJxdzv pic.twitter.com/t9iupM5bnK

— YVR (@yvrairport) March 8, 2023

Travel making a comeback

While 880,573 passengers are expected this spring break, that represents 88% of passenger levels seen in 2019 for the same period when 1,000,293 passengers went through YVR.

In 2022, YVR saw more than 19 million passengers – higher than the original 17 million passengers projected in late October 2022.

The busiest day of 2022 happened during the holiday season when there were nearly 71,000 passengers.

Last year, the demand for global aviation worldwide came back with a roar and appeared to catch airlines and airports off-guard. Frustrated travellers dealt with baggage snafus, long delays, and sudden cancellations during 2022.

While passenger volumes have been increasing at YVR, they are not quite back to pre-pandemic levels.

Advice for travellers

If you’re travelling this spring break, be sure to arrive at least two or three hours early for your domestic or international flight respectively.

Use your smartphone to help you have a smoother travel experience. For example, the ArriveCAN app can be used to submit customs and immigration declarations ahead of travel, so you can go to the Advance CBSA Declaration express lanes and save time at border clearance.

Also, the Americans have their own app that makes travel easier. The US Customs Mobile Passport Control (MPC) app lets you submit information ahead of time, which could lead to shorter wait times for you.

You can keep up with the latest information from YVR by visiting its website and following the airport on Twitter.

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With files from Daily Hive Staff.