Vancouver International Airport ranked North America's 2nd cleanest airport

Cleaning staff at Vancouver International Airport. (Vancouver Airport Authority)

Canada’s three busiest airports are amongst the cleanest major airports in North America, according to a new ranking by Skytrax.

Vancouver International Airport (YVR) has been ranked second in the continent for cleanliness, just behind Toronto Pearson International Airport and ahead of Houston George Bush International Airport.

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Fifth place went to Montreal Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport, while the nearby Seattle-Tacoma International Airport came in at seventh.

Asian airports dominate the top 10 of the world’s cleanest airports, with Tokyo Haneda International Airport coming at top, followed by Singapore Changi Airport and Tokyo Narita International Airport. Airports in North America were not represented in the top 10 global list.

Skytrax’s annual rankings are based on its global airport customer satisfaction survey. Despite the depressed demand in global aviation, it was still able to push out a ranking for 2021, based on 21.65 million completed passenger questionnaires.

Earlier this summer, Skytrax also named YVR the best airport in North America for the 12th consecutive year. Skytrax’s overall best airport ranking takes into account 39 factors that define an airport travel experience, including check-in, security, comfort, efficiency, signage, guest service, transportation, passenger amenities, and friendliness.

YVR was also one of 39 international airports to receive Skytrax’s new COVID-19 Airport Excellence Award — a pandemic-time health safety award ranked in no particular order, and the only Canadian airport to make it into this category, which is based on hygiene and safety protocols such as COVID-19 information signage, hand sanitizer access, and the cleanliness of terminal and washroom facilities.

Earlier this month, passenger volumes at YVR saw their strongest rebound since March 2020, reaching an average of 30,000 daily passengers — about 50% of pre-pandemic levels of 60,000 daily. With US transborder and international travel restrictions relaxed for fully-vaccinated leisure passengers, these heightened passenger volumes are holding steady.

Cleanest major airports in North America

Toronto Pearson International Airport
Vancouver International Airport
Houston George Bush International Airport
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport
Montreal Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport
Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport
Denver International Airport
Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport

Cleanest airports in the world

Tokyo Haneda International Airport
Singapore Changi Airport
Tokyo Narita International Airport
Doha Hamad International Airport
Seoul Incheon International Airport
Kansai Airport
Centrair Nagoya Airport
Hong Kong International Airport
Zurich Airport
Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport

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