Small drop in Vancouver International Airport passenger traffic in January 2020

There was a minor drop in air passenger volumes at Vancouver International Airport (YVR) in January 2020, according to the latest statistics published by the Vancouver Airport Authority.

The month saw 2,021,535 passengers, representing an overall 0.3% drop over the same month in 2019. Volumes on European flights actually increased by 7.6% over the previous year, but passenger traffic fell by 0.5% for domestic flights, 3.1% for US transborder flights, and 1.3% for Asia Pacific flights.

• See also:
  • Record 26.4 million passengers at Vancouver International Airport in 2019
  • YVR’s airport improvement fee to increase to help fund expansion projects
  • Qantas Airways cancels Vancouver to Sydney service amidst coronavirus threat

Runway aircraft movements during the month saw a 3% year-over-year decrease, including a 3.4% drop for jet aircraft — from 13,574 in January 2019 to 13,106 in January 2020.

Throughout January, the apparent spread of COVID-19 was a growing concern, but not a near-term emergency, as for much of the month it was mainly perceived as a crisis within China.

On January 31, there were approximately 10,000 confirmed cases in China, and over a dozen countries had reported their first cases of infection, with the World Health Organization declaring the outbreak a global public health emergency.

Here is a full breakdown of YVR’s passenger volumes in January 2020:

• Domestic:
  • 2019: 941,781
  • 2020: 936,916 (-0.5%)
• US transborder:
  • 2019: 495,491
  • 2020: 480,076 (-3.1%)
• Asia Pacific:
  • 2019: 405,194
  • 2020: 399,816 (-1.3%)
• Europe:
  • 2019: 74,716
  • 2020: 80,428 (+7.6%)
• Miscellaneous:
  • 2019: 109,635
  • 2020: 124,299 (+13.4%)
• Total:
  • 2019: 2,026,817
  • 2020: 2,021,535 (-0.3%)

The number of cases and the implemented containment measures in China and elsewhere soared throughout February. With heightened attention over a possible global pandemic, the passenger traffic volumes for February, set to be released next month, should show a stark contrast from January’s modest decrease.