Vancouver airport sees record-breaking passenger volumes in early 2026 | Daily Hive

Vancouver International Airport sees record-breaking passenger volumes in early 2026

SkyTrain's YVR Airport Station; FIFA World Cup Vancouver decorations, as seen on May 11, 2026. (Kenneth Chan)

Vancouver International Airport (YVR) began 2026 with very strong passenger volumes, continuing the post-pandemic momentum and its record-breaking annual volumes last year.

New statistics show that over the first quarter of 2026 — over the months of January, February, and March — YVR recorded a total of 6.368 million passengers.

This was the best-ever first quarter for passenger volumes at Canada’s second busiest airport — up from the previous record of 6.103 million in the first quarter of 2025 and 6.033 million in the first quarter of 2019. The first quarter is also typically a slower period of the year, falling after the heavy Christmas season holiday travels.

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This year’s first quarter was driven by strong gains in passengers travelling on domestic and Asia Pacific routes, which more than offset the dip seen in the U.S. transborder market.

Even so, despite the current political and economic tensions that first began in early 2025, YVR’s U.S. transborder passenger volumes remained relatively strong, recording a total of 1.304 million passengers over the first quarter of 2026 — down from 1.389 million in the first quarter of 2025, 1.477 million in the first quarter of 2024, and 1.527 million in the first quarter of 2019.

To reflect the shift in demand, Canada’s airlines have already shifted some of their capacity reaching U.S. destinations to domestic and European routes.

Over the past year, some of the relatively slight losses in U.S. transborder passenger volumes can be attributed to fewer Canadians choosing to travel down south, but the gains are also offset by large volumes of Americans choosing Canada as their destination — buoyed by the low Canadian dollar and B.C.’s tourism offerings, including Vancouver’s pivotal homeport for cruise ships, which is one of the largest in North America outside of Florida. Vancouver Fraser Port Authority is anticipating an all-time record of over 1.4 million cruise ship passengers at the Canada Place terminal in 2026.

As well, there will be a surge in travellers in June and July, when Vancouver hosts seven matches for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

“Looking beyond FIFA, then, you know, it’s still going to be a very busy summer. The cruise ship schedule is jam-packed as well,” said Tamara Vrooman, the president and CEO of Vancouver International Airport, during her address to the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade in April 2026.

Vrooman shared that the airport authority has spent roughly $8 million in recent months on maintenance and repair work to get ready for the influx of travellers for the FIFA World Cup. Extensive staff training is also underway to optimally accommodate the surge in passengers for both the tournament and cruise ships.

She added that YVR is also expecting a significant influx of private jets for the FIFA World Cup, having effectively conducted a trial run in late 2024 when BC Place Stadium hosted the final three concerts of Taylor Swift’s global Eras Tour.

But it remains to been seen how recent geopolitical events could put a damper on that passenger growth momentum, specifically the U.S. war in Iran that began on Feb. 28, with the Strait of Hormuz — a vital global corridor for oil shipments from the Middle East — largely blocked off by Iran since then.

This has led to skyrocketing fuel prices worldwide, including for aviation fuels. Airlines are feeling the pinch, with fares for air travel growing substantially this spring and into the summer.

Some airlines are also cutting back on the frequencies of their route due to the fuel costs, such as Air India cutting the number of flights between Deli and Vancouver from seven to five weekly beginning this month. Within the U.S., a sudden upward creep in fuel costs contributed to the final downfall of discount carrier Spirit Airlines earlier this month.

Higher fares and reduced capacity from the prolonged armed conflict in the Middle East could potentially lead to slower passenger volumes as the year progresses. However, later this year, YVR is still set to see new routes reaching destinations in Mexico, Costa Rica, and Japan, which will be North America’s only direct flight route reaching Sapporo.

In 2025, YVR set an all-time historic annual record of 26.9 million passengers, exceeding the tally of 26.205 million in 2024 and its previous record of 26.38 million in 2019. It remains to be seen whether 2026’s annual volumes could reach and exceed last year’s figure.

YVR Airport new flights 2024-2026

March 13, 2024: Tokyo, Japan (Narita; NRT) — Zipair, 5x weekly
April 3, 2024: Singapore (SIN) — Air Canada, 4x weekly
April 11, 2024: Montreal, Quebec (YUL) — Porter Airlines, daily
April 28, 2024: Detroit, Michigan (DTW) — WestJet, daily (seasonal)
June 5, 2024: Charlotte, North Carolina (CLT) — American Airlines, daily (seasonal)
Jan. 18, 2025: Hong Kong (HKG) — Hong Kong Airlines, 2x weekly
April 2, 2025: Manila, Philippines (MNL) — Air Canada, 4x weekly
May 1, 2025: Nashville, Tennessee (BNA) — Air Canada, 4x weekly (seasonal)
June 3, 2025: Tampa, Florida (TPA) — Air Canada, 2x weekly
June 4, 2025: Raleigh, North Carolina (RDU) — Air Canada, 3x weekly (seasonal)
May 11, 2025: Austin, Texas (AUS) — WestJet, 3x weekly (seasonal)
July 1, 2025: Halifax, Nova Scotia (YHZ) — WestJet, 4x weekly (seasonal)
Oct. 27, 2025: Mexico City, Mexico (MEX) — Flair Airlines, 3x weekly
Dec. 12, 2025: Liberia, Costa Rica (LIR) — WestJet, daily (seasonal)
Feb. 2, 2026: Phoenix, Arizona (PHX) — Porter Airlines, daily (seasonal)
April 15, 2026: Montreal, Quebec (YUL) – Flair Airlines, daily (seasonal)
Oct. 3, 2026: Guanajuato, Mexico (BJX) – Flair Airlines, weekly
Dec. 3, 2026: Monterrey, Mexico (MTY) – Air Canada, 3x weekly (seasonal)
Dec. 7, 2026: Puerto Escondido, Mexico (PXM) – Air Canada, 4x weekly (seasonal)
Dec. 13, 2026: Liberia, Costa Rica (LIR) – , Air Canada, 4x weekly (seasonal)
Dec. 15, 2026: Mazatlán, Mexico (MZT) – Air Canada, daily (seasonal)
Dec. 17, 2026: Sapporo, Japan (CTS) — Air Canada, 3x weekly (seasonal)

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