North Runway News - October 2025
Welcome to the North Runway News, our bi-monthly newsletter that provides information about what’s happening with our North Runway Program.
Following six months of concentrated work to conduct upgrades overnight while maintaining daily operations, paving and major improvements work are now complete. The North Runway was returned to its full level of service as planned earlier in October, representing a significant milestone.
Read on for details of this latest milestone and progress of the Program, including the final installment of our newsletter.
In April 2025, YVR began major works on the North Runway to ensure the longevity and resilience of this critical piece of airport infrastructure. With input from airlines, aircraft operators and businesses that rely on our runway system, we designed a program to deliver the necessary improvements within the existing standard nightly closure period of 22:00 – 06:00, with the runway returning to service in the morning. This approach represented the least impact to our customers.
Our comprehensive program engaged hundreds of professionals, including our partners at Musqueam, contractors, sub-contractors, consultants, trade workers and, of course, our staff.
Over the course of the Program, which also included early works conducted in late 2024, we paved the full length of the runway and connecting taxiways, upgraded drainage systems, and raised more than 1,600 lights to align with the new runway height. In total, the program team invested over 130,000 person hours during construction and maintained a strong safety record, with no lost-time incidents.
What we’ve been up to:
Crews finished the top and final lift of paving. Electrical and lighting work has also been completed, and all lights have now been reinstalled. During this process, runway edge lights were switched from halogen bulbs to LED, allowing for greater lifespan of lights and energy efficiency.
Testing and commissioning work is complete and the North Runway has returned to its full CAT III service level, meaning that aircraft are able to land and take off during low visibility conditions.
In order to return the runway to service, flight checks were performed by NAV CANADA, the country’s air navigation service provider.
During the flight check, NAV CANADA flies a small jet aircraft at low altitudes to perform simulated approaches for the instrument landing system checks.
What’s next:
While paving and major improvements work is now complete, some minor work on the runway and airfield continues, such as line painting and decommissioning and removing some of the work sites and temporary access roads.
Over the summer, we launched a video series to detail the work and the people delivering it. So far, we’ve released three episodes and there are two more in the works that document the finishing elements of our North Runway Program.
Our last edition of the North Runway News bi-monthly newsletter will be issued in December, to showcase the video series and Program highlights.
Visit www.yvr.ca/northrunway for more information about the program.