Flying out of Vancouver International Airport (YVR) Thursday? You, and everyone else.
YVR is expecting more than 76,800 people to pass through its terminals on Dec. 18 — the projected busiest travel day of the year.
Between Dec. 1 and Jan. 12, the airport says it’s expecting over 3 million travellers, with Thursday being the peak.
Thursday will be followed closely by Dec. 22 and Dec. 29 “as passenger traffic surges a few days before both Christmas and New Year’s.”
YVR says it’s more prepared than ever to move people quickly with recent innovations, including biometric ID verification tools and CT X-ray equipment that lets passengers leave laptops and liquids in their bags at certain security screening zones.
Statistics Canada’s latest report on passenger traffic through major airports shows trips to the U.S. decreased in October for the ninth consecutive month this year.
Meanwhile, over 5 million people were recorded checking through Canada’s eight largest airports in October — an increase of 4.5 per cent year over year. YVR alone recorded over 900,000 people — an increase of nearly 6.6 per cent year over year.
Statistics Canada says travellers heading to the U.S. only accounted for 24.4 per cent of airport traffic in October — down from 28 per cent last year.
Instead, the numbers show Canadians are opting for domestic destinations, with travel to other cities in Canada up 8.5 per cent in the same period.
For people departing from Vancouver during its busiest period, the airport says the top ten destinations are:
Toronto,
Calgary,
Edmonton,
Kelowna,
Montreal,
Hong Kong,
San Francisco,
Victoria,
Los Angeles,
Seattle.source & photo: CityNews
