Flight Plan YYJ With a multi-million dollar expansion designed to improve the experience of passengers and carriers, YYJ is ready for take off. Don’t refer to Victoria International Airport as small. As the 10th busiest airport in Canada, YYJ has served a cool two million passengers this year — exceeding initial projections for 2018. All the while, YYJ has been steadily pouring resources into improvements in its terminal and landing apron, including the current expansion of the lower departures area and the recent repaving of its five runways. And that extra cushy carpeting underfoot while you wind through security isn’t a fluke — every aspect of the airport has been designed to improve the user’s experience.
“The art in airport planning and airport design is to be just ahead of the demand curve,” says YYJ’s president and CEO Geoff Dickson. “You don’t want to be too far in front of it, because then, effectively, you’re over-building and it’s inefficient, but you don’t want to be behind it. Our challenge is always staying ahead of it.” The airport has exceeded expectations laid out in its 2013 master plan and is three years ahead of traffic projections with a six-per-cent growth maintained this year.
■ BY SUSAN HOLLIS ■ PHOTO BY JEFFREY BOSDET
Construction is moving forward on the single largest capital project ever undertaken by the Victoria Airport Authority. The $20-million expansion will double the size of the lower departures area. Completion is expected in spring 2020. The lower departures area was originally designed to accommodate passengers from 35- to 50-seat aircrafts. Today, most aircrafts are Bombardier Q400s with anywhere from 76 to 78 seats.
76 DOUGLAS
THE YYJ LOGO WAS DESIGNED BY LOCAL COMPANY ECLIPSE 360 AND IS BASED ON AN AERIAL VIEW OF THE RUNWAYS.
BY THE NUMBERS
100
Average number of commercial flights YYJ handles per day. TOTAL YYJ PASSENGERS ▼
JUNE 2017
169,063 ▼
JUNE 2018
183,519 an 8.6 per cent rise from the previous year
122,141
Domestic passenger traffic, June 2014
157,492
Domestic passenger traffic, June 2018
11
Air traffic controllers needed for a complete operating day at YYJ.
12
Airlines that use YYJ.