Vancouver airport targets doubling annual cargo volumes to 730,000 tonnes by 2030 | Daily Hive

Vancouver International Airport sets ambitious goal to double cargo volumes to over 700,000 tonnes annually by 2030

Freight air cargo being in the belly hold of a commercial passenger aircraft at Vancouver International Airport. (Vancouver International Airport)

Vancouver International Airport (YVR) is setting its sights on a dramatic expansion of its cargo business, as shifting global trade patterns and geopolitical instability create new opportunities for what is already Canada’s second-busiest passenger airport to establish itself as a major global gateway for air cargo moving between Asia, North America, and Europe.

Speaking to the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade on Friday, Tamara Vrooman, president and CEO of Vancouver International Airport (YVR), announced a new strategy that would see the airport double its cargo volumes over the next five years — transforming a traditionally secondary line of business into a central pillar of the airport’s operations and bolstering regional economic growth.

“That’s the vision that we have for YVR,” said Vrooman. “Taking the strength that we have on the passenger side, for which we are recognized and increasingly world-renowned, and extending it to the cargo business, because we think this is the opportunity, more than at any other time potentially in our history, to really ensure that our role as a trade hub and a cargo hub is equally compelling and equally, if given what’s at stake, for our business.”

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YVR recorded an all-time annual record of 365,000 tonnes of cargo in 2025, when it also saw a historic annual record of 26.9 million passengers. This exceeds the previous records of 339,000 tonnes for cargo in 2018 and 26.4 million passengers in 2019.

Air cargo — not to be confused with the checked baggage of passengers — typically relates to the freight transport of high-value goods, such as British Columbia’s live/iced seafood, produce, and mining equipment for exports from YVR, and electronics, health supplies, e-commerce, and perishable goods for imports to YVR.

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Tamara Vrooman, president and CEO of Vancouver International Airport, during her address to the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade on April 10, 2026. (Kenneth Chan)

Doubling 2025’s annual cargo volumes in five years would translate into seeing roughly 730,000 tonnes of cargo per year by 2030.

At the core of YVR’s cargo ambitions is a simple but powerful dynamic: more flights mean more freight capacity. About 60 per cent of YVR’s air cargo is moved in the bellies of commercial passenger aircraft, while the remaining 40 per cent is moved on dedicated air freighters.

This not only improves the financial and economic feasibility for airlines to start new and improved passenger routes serving YVR, with cargo revenue in the aircraft bellies effectively “subsidizing” passenger transportation in the deck above to some extent, but it also unlocks new export pathways for Canadian goods.

For this reason, Vrooman emphasized how passenger route expansion directly propels cargo growth, noting that even modest increases in service can have outsized economic effects.

“In fact, every flight that we introduce, one flight weekly over the course of a year, that amounts to about $54 million and up to $500 million in additional cargo shipped,” she said.

YVR’s cargo volumes doubled upon the outbreak of the U.S. war in Iran

But a major driver behind YVR’s cargo opportunity lies in the current global disruption to trade movements.

Vrooman pointed to the ongoing impacts from the U.S.-led war in Iran as a key example of how global logistics networks are being reconfigured in real time. Traditionally, a significant portion of cargo moving from Asia to Europe passed through hubs in the Persian Gulf, particularly Dubai International Airport and Doha’s Hamad International Airport. That pattern is now shifting, she says.

“A lot of Asia cargo used to go through the Persian Gulf into the region and connect into Europe. Now it’s finding a safer and more secure passage from Southeast Asia through YVR,” said Vrooman.

The impact has been immediate. According to feedback from cargo operators and handlers, she says, air cargo volumes moving through YVR have surged rapidly since last month to the extent that volumes have doubled from the sudden outbreak of the war.

“Our colleagues, some of our cargo shippers, handlers have said that since the Gulf conflict, they’ve seen the traffic through YVR, for cargo in particular, virtually double over the course of seven to 10 days,” said Vrooman.

This sudden rerouting also highlights Vancouver’s geographic advantage as a Trans-Pacific gateway — one that can act as a stable alternative in times of global uncertainty.

Despite record cargo volumes of approximately 365,000 tonnes annually in 2025, YVR’s cargo business still operates at a small fraction of the scale of global leaders such as Hong Kong International Airport and Singapore Changi Airport, which handled five million tonnes and two million tonnes, respectively, last year.

However, YVR already punches above its weight compared to many other major airports in Canada and the United States, when the volumes are presented from an air cargo-to-passenger ratio.

If YVR achieves the doubling of its air cargo volumes to 730,000 tonnes per year over the next five years, it would exceed the 2025 cargo tally of one of the world’s busiest and largest airports, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, which recorded 106 million passengers and 640,000 tonnes of cargo last year.

“What we see is that if you can deliver speed, consistency, and scale, people will come,” she said. “And you’ll attract all of the integrators. The freight forwarders will want to be there. Shipping efficiencies will be there.”

She added that increased competition within a larger cargo ecosystem would ultimately benefit businesses across the board.

“Competition emerges that lowers costs, improves access, not only for the biggest shippers, but right through the economic ecosystem to small and medium-sized businesses,” she said.

YVR needs to act quickly to tap into emerging major Asian trade opportunities

A key challenge in achieving this vision is modernization.

While passenger travel has undergone a significant digital transformation, cargo logistics remain comparatively outdated. Vrooman described an industry still heavily reliant on manual processes.

“Cargo logistics is still largely speaking a paper industry. You know, you still fill out the form in triplicate,” she said.

YVR aims to change that by building a fully digitized cargo ecosystem — mirroring the technological innovations already implemented in passenger operations.

“We see other jurisdictions, like Asian countries, are moving to full digitized radio and freight records. That’s something that we think that we can build, a purpose build, at YVR,” she said.

The goal is to create a seamless, efficient logistics platform that enables Canadian businesses to compete globally.

“Hard for our companies to be able to access that supply chain if they can’t do it digitally,” Vrooman added.

This shift reflects broader investments in air cargo infrastructure at YVR, supported by $74 million in federal funding — announced in early 2024 — toward the $150-million project of expanding the airport’s cargo capacity by an additional 160,000 tonnes, representing an overall capacity increase of 50 per cent.

The expanded cargo-handling capacity will reach completion in 2027, while the remaining components of a taxiway extension, cargo apron extension, and road improvements will reach full completion in 2028. The apron component entails four additional aircraft stands to accommodate Boeing 777 freighter aircraft — deemed to be the most fuel-efficient dedicated air freighters.

As well, this project, currently under construction, includes site preparation for the future construction of a new 270,000 sq. ft. cargo warehouse — a facility that will be leased to a logistics company for cargo sorting, processing, and storage — and will allow future dike raising work.

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Freight air cargo being in the belly hold of a commercial passenger aircraft at Vancouver International Airport. (Vancouver International Airport)

Beyond airport operations, Vrooman positioned cargo expansion as a critical instrument for local economic development.

“It’s difficult for businesses to grow in our region without access to an efficient, digitized, smart, reliable cargo airport,” she said.

By combining its geographic location, growing route network, and planned capacity expansion and digital upgrades, the airport is betting it can evolve into a global cargo hub that matches its long-standing reputation for passenger service.

Vrooman highlighted several key markets her team is looking to tap into, especially Vietnam. Currently, there is no direct, non-stop service linking Vietnam and Canada, but she described the tourism and trade potential as an immense opportunity.

“We currently see quite a large volume of goods coming from the west coast of Canada, Canadian goods finding their way to Vietnam, and vice versa. And things that would surprise you. Machine parts, plastics, technology, all, relatively speaking, high-value goods that travel by air. The problem is we don’t have any direct service to Vietnam,” she said, adding that 58,000 passengers were recorded travelling between YVR and Vietnam via a connection in Singapore.

But she also warned that the Vancouver Airport Authority, businesses, and governments must act quickly to take advantage of this window of opportunity, as potential trade partners in Asia interested in further establishing trade ties with Canada will not wait.

“One of the things that they’ve experienced in the past, dealing with Canadian businesses, and in particular, parts of the ecosystem that facilitate trade, is we can be a little slower than the market needs. We make high-quality decisions, but it takes a really, really long time. And in other situations and contexts, I think they’ve communicated that that would be okay. But in this unique one, it is not,” she said.

“And so while their first preference is to grow and partner with us, they can’t wait. And so we need to be ready and able to receive the investments to facilitate the trade, to facilitate the partnership and the movement of people and goods, that really is a once-in-a-generational opportunity for us.”

Last year, Daily Hive Urbanized reported that Vietnam Airlines publicly indicated its interest in launching a new direct, non-stop route to Vancouver.

The headline goal — doubling cargo volumes within five years — is ambitious. But for Vrooman, the timing is right, she emphasized.

Global supply chains are shifting. Trade routes are being redrawn. And competition among nations for logistics dominance is intensifying.

“And in so doing,” said Vrooman, “we will continue to contribute jobs, billions of dollars in prosperity and economic growth, and create a global hub in cargo that is equal to the global hub reputation that we have for passengers.”

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