Vancouver airport records its busiest month ever with over 2.8 million passengers | Daily Hive

Vancouver International Airport records its busiest month ever with over 2.8 million passengers

Vancouver International Airport. (Kenneth Chan)

Vancouver International Airport (YVR) set back-to-back monthly passenger records in Summer 2026, with the month of August becoming the first month in the airport’s history to reach and surpass 2.8 million passengers, arrivals and departures combined.

Canada’s second busiest airport recorded 2.815 million passengers in August 2026, topping the record of 2.73 million set in July 2026 by about 83,000 passengers.

These figures are based on the latest official passenger statistics. The final data for September 2026 will be made available next month.

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Before this summer, YVR’s busiest month ever was August 2018, when the airport handled 2.71 million passengers.

Compared with August 2025, when YVR recorded 2.65 million passengers, the total for August 2026 was up by about 168,000 or 6.3 per cent.

Combined, July and August 2026 brought nearly 5.55 million passengers through the airport. Both months were affected by WestJet’s labour disruptions in late July and early August.

August 2026 alone averaged about 90,800 passengers per day.

As can be expected, domestic flights accounted for the largest share of August 2026’s passenger volumes, and it was also responsible for a big chunk of the increase in real numbers — growing from 1.33 million in August 2025 to 1.45 million over the same month this year. That represents an increase of almost 119,000 passengers, or 8.9 per cent.

International passenger volumes outside the United States also grew, reaching over 727,000 in August 2026 — an increase of 12.7 per cent from about 645,000 in August 2025.

Within that international category, Asia-Pacific routes accounted for about 441,000 passengers in August 2026, representing a year-over-year increase of 18.6 per cent. YVR previously told Daily Hive Urbanized they have been seeing a resurgence in passenger volumes from Mainland China since last year, which is a contributing factor to the strength of the airport’s Asia-Pacific market.

European routes recorded another 240,000 passengers, which is up by 5.2 per cent compared to the same month in 2025.

However, as can be expected due to the continued political and economic tensions between Canada and the U.S., passenger volumes between YVR and U.S. destinations saw a further retraction. U.S. transborder passenger volumes fell to about 635,000 in August 2026, which is down from 668,000 in August 2025 — a decline of more than 33,000 passengers or about five per cent. In contrast, before the re-election of U.S. president Donald Trump, YVR saw 700,000 passengers on U.S. routes in August 2024.

For well over a year, some airlines have reduced flight frequencies or suspended routes between Canada and the U.S. in response to lower demand, redirecting resources to other domestic and international routes. In the latest such reduction, Air Canada confirmed last week that its two seasonal routes linking YVR with Nashville and Raleigh will not return for Summer 2027 as previously scheduled.

July 2026’s strong passenger volumes were driven in part by increased visitation to Vancouver for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Growth in both July and August 2026 was also supported by strong tourism demand, including a record-breaking cruise season that brought 1.4 million passengers through the Canada Place cruise ship terminal in Downtown Vancouver.

August is also typically one of YVR’s busiest months, as travellers head out on summer vacations and make their way home, while students return ahead of the new school year.

This year to date, over the first eight months of 2026, based on the latest official statistics, YVR has already recorded 18.92 million passengers — up by 4.1 per cent compared to 18.18 million over the same period in 2025.

This also represents YVR’s highest January-to-August passenger total total ever.

If this trend continues for the remaining months of 2026, YVR could set a new all-time annual record for passenger volumes, exceeding the historic record of 26.9 million passengers in 2025.

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