Vancouver International Airport ranked 10th best airport in the world

Canada’s second largest and busiest airport has earned yet another accolade: Vancouver International Airport (YVR) has been named the 10th best international airport in the world in a new ranking by Conde Nast Traveler magazine’s Readers’ Choice Awards.

YVR is the only Canadian airport to be named in the list. This is how the magazine described Vancouver International Airport:

Highest score was for easy access to the airport via the rapid transit Canada Line—taking less than half an hour from city center to terminals for under $10. Second only to Toronto as Canada’s busiest airport, Vancouver International Airport offers multiple routes across the Pacific to Asia, as well as polar routes to Europe. Construction of the original airport in 1930 was partially inspired by Charles Lindbergh, who famously said the city was unfit for landing. He’d be surprised to know that 19.4 million flyers now think otherwise.

In separate rankings, Conde Nast Traveler also recently named Vancouver for:

World’s Best Business Hotel: Fairmont Pacific Rim
World’s 12th Best World Food City
World’s 28th Best Hotels & Resorts: Loden Hotel
One of the World’s Best Coastal Drives: Sea to Sky Highway

The airport also consistently ranks high in air travel industry rankings, including in the annual Skytrax Passenger Awards.

Earlier this year, YVR became the first airport to hold onto a top ranking for six consecutive years – the Skytrax award for North America’s best airport. As well, this year’s Skytrax awards also gave YVR two other top accolades: best airport in the world with 10 to 20 million passengers and best airport hotel in North America.

Beyond the accolades, YVR is also on target to reach a 20 million passenger count, for the first time in its history, by the end of the year. In 2014, the airport saw a record 19.4 million passengers, an increase of 1.4 million passengers over the previous year.

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The high growth can be attributed to: the rebound of the airline and cruise industries following the 2008 recession, the low Canadian dollar, major events and conferences held in the city, and a number of new flight services to new international destinations.

Over the next six months, at least nine new flight services will be added to YVR’s itinerary, including four new daily direct, non-stop flight services.

The airport has been in a state of immense flux since the 1990s when significant investments were made to construct new terminal facilities and the North Runway.

Earlier this year, a $213-million expansion opened at the south end of the domestic terminal. YVR has openly stated that it will be developing major capital investment plans to expand the terminal, before passenger numbers grow to the airport’s capacity of 25 million per year, a figure that is expected by 2020.

Conde Nast Traveler Top 10 International Airports

Changi International Airport (Singapore)
Dubai International Airport (Dubai, UAE)
Hong Kong International Airport (Hong Kong, China)
Ben Gurion Airport (Tel Aviv, Israel)
Incheon International Airport (Seoul, South Korea)
Haneda Airport (Tokyo, Japan)
Hamad International Airport (Doha, Qatar)
Abu Dhabi International Airport (Abu Dhabi, UAE)
Zurich Airport (Zurich, Switzerland)
Vancouver International Airport (Vancouver, Canada)

New and improved major YVR routes 2015/2016

March 15, 2015: Manila, Philippines and New York City, U.S.A. – Philippine Airlines adds four weekly flights to its route from Manila to NYC, with a stop in Vancouver.
March 29, 2015: Paris, France – Air France begins three times weekly non-stop flight service, with five times weekly schedules during the summer months.
May 1, 2015: Osaka, Japan – Air Canada Rouge begins five times weekly service to Kansai International Airport.
June 26, 2015: Kungming, China – China Eastern Airlines begins three times weekly flight service via Shanghai.
December 9, 2015: Mexico City, Mexico – Aeromexico to begin daily non-stop flight service.
January 1, 2016: Orlando International Airport – WestJet to begin twice weekly non-stop flight service.
January 20, 2016: Orlando-Sanford International Airport – National Airlines to begin two times weekly flight service.
May 1, 2016: London Heathrow Airport – British Airways to use an AirBus A380 superjumbo jet for its existing daily non-stop London Heathrow Airport service. The A380 will only be used during the summer months.
May 6, 2016: London Gatwick Airport – WestJet to begin six times weekly non-stop flight service.
May 9, 2016: Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport – Air Canada to begin twice daily, non-stop service to San Jose.
June 4, 2016: Chicago O’Hare International Airport – Air Canada to begin daily, non-stop service.
June 6, 2016: San Diego International Airport – Air Canada to begin daily, non-stop service.
June 10, 2016: Dublin Airport – Air Canada to begin seasonal non-stop flight service.
June 17, 2016: Brisbane, Australia – Air Canada to begin three times weekly non-stop flight service.