YVR News

YVR's Top 10 Tips for Winter Travel

Fri, 31 Jan 2025 12:00:00 -0800

One of the busiest travel seasons of the year is upon us and we’ve put together a comprehensive list to help you prepare and plan for a seamless travel experience through YVR.

1. Documents and details
Make sure you have your required travel docs – and that they aren’t expired – well in advance of your trip. This includes your passport/ID, airline reservations, bag specifications and any other records or paperwork you may need for the country you’re flying to.

2. Packing pointers
The restrictions on liquids, gels and aerosols for carry-on bags remains at 100mL. You will also want to make sure you keep them together in a clear, 1L, resealable bag. More information on what is allowed through security can be found on the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority website at catsa.gc.ca.

3. Have a parking or transportation plan
Be sure to pre-book your parking at yvr.ca/parking ahead of your trip to ensure you lock in a spot. Otherwise, consider taking the Canada Line, as it can get you from downtown Vancouver to the airport in 30 minutes or less.

4. Check the status of your flight
Skies can be all clear at YVR but winter weather in other parts of the country could impact your journey, so be sure to check the status of your flight at yvr.ca before you leave home. We also encourage you to use our Journeys tool to help plan what you are interested in seeing, doing and/or eating at YVR.

5. Prep your Tech
Before you leave your house, make sure you have all your tech set-up. Get your digital boarding pass ready, pre-load yvr.ca/travelplanning on your phone for easy reference throughout your travel journey and make sure you keep an eye on our Operational Snapshot for the most up-to-date info on security wait times, parkade capacity and more.

6. Lost and Found
Did you know the airport finds between 2,000 – 4,000 items every month? Label your belongings with your name and contact information in case you forget something at the airport. This makes it easier for our team to reunite you with your items. Similarly, use your phone’s lock screen to display an alternative contact number should you be separated from it.
If you do end up losing something at YVR, make sure you file a claim on YVR’s website. We will do our best to help you find it. Remember, there is no cost to submit a lost and found report to YVR. Beware of scam websites asking for a fee.

7. Arrive early and enjoy
From 170 different shops, services and restaurants to our Less Airport Stress Initiative (LASI) Program, featuring St. John’s Ambulance Therapy Dogs, there are so many reasons to make sure you arrive early so you can enjoy all the airport has to offer.

8. Grab a last-minute gift
Did you know you can purchase products from the duty-free shop while you’re on the way to the airport and the collect them before boarding your flight? Secure your gifts before you fly and reserve online at Vancouver Shop Duty Free.

9. Nursing rooms
Need a place to feed or pump in private? YVR has nursing rooms and pods available throughout the airport. A list of where you can find them is available here.

10. Pick up your party
Picking up friends or family? YVR’s Cell Phone Waiting Area is a great place to wait for your loved ones to arrive. Avoid circling the terminal and enjoy this complimentary parking lot with free Wi-Fi. We also just introduced 30-min complimentary parking in our Parkade for those quick pick-up and drop-offs.

Have more questions?
Keep an eye out for our YVR Guest Experience team or Green Coat volunteers. Team members are stationed all the way from the curb, through the terminal and at Information Counters and are ready to answer any questions you might have.

YVR Winter Readiness: Enhancements and Preparations

Tue, 16 Jan 2024 16:30:19 -0800

Maintaining a safe and secure airport operation for travellers, employees and our community is the focus of everything we do. To operate safely, YVR needs a robust plan and the right people to make it happen. Over the past year, we have invested more than $40 million and worked continuously to prepare our people and operations for the 2023 winter season.

The enhancements we’ve made in the last year fall into four categories:

Operational Changes
Upgraded Traveller Experience
Data & Technology Enhancements
Greater Collaboration

Operational Changes

We’ve developed new operational plans to help bolster our overall preparedness, improve procedures, and increase available equipment to help manage severe weather events and irregular operations. This includes:

New gate protocols requiring aircraft to deplane passengers within 30 minutes of taxiing
16 additional airfield maintenance positions and an increased number of bridge and apron crews
More efficient de-icing processes and increased de-icing storage capacity
A significant investment in airfield snow and ice control measures including the purchase of 19 pieces of snow clearing equipment
Better management of aircraft movements, airport flow and on-time performance through the launch of our Airport Reservation Office (ARO)

Upgraded Traveller Experience

In order to better support our passengers, we’ve set up new zones across the airport with dedicated support teams and zone leads to ensure passengers can always find a friendly face to support them in their travels. Visitors to YVR will see the difference through:

Additional staff stationed throughout the terminal
A new Curbside Greeting Program, designed to welcome arriving guests and deliver seamless accessibility support for travellers with special needs

In addition to this, improvements to YVR’s website and digital tools will provide travellers with access to essential and timely information.

Our passenger Journey Platform, available on mobile phones, helps viewers easily navigate through the airport
YVR.ca has a revamped news page, acting as a multi-faceted hub for up-to-date airport information. It will also serve as our go-to space for communicating during irregular operations, including winter weather events.

Data & Technology Enhancements

Using predictive analytics and digital tools helps YVR generate highly accurate forecasts for all traveller processes. We’ll be able to better predict passenger movements and ‘see’ where we think we’ll need to provide extra staff weeks in advance. Our technology can:

Improve ability to track delayed baggage through real-time technology and data
Expanded digital tools for travellers including YVR EXPRESS and YVR TimeLine
Critical winter related updates provided via a live operations, data-focused dashboard
Greater use of YVR’s Digital Twin which improves our awareness across multiple facets of our operations
Implementation of advanced weather monitoring systems, able to provide real-time weather data.

Greater Collaboration

There are over 26,000 people who work on Sea Island to help keep the airport running smoothly and efficiently. The frequency of communication with all our partners and employees across YVR’s ecosystem has been significantly increased. This new ability allows us to share operational observations and analytical insights, which in-turn fosters data-driven decision making across and between all members. Greater collaboration has enabled:

Implementation of new information sharing platforms to increase multi-agency operational understanding
Daily touchpoints with partner organization, enhancing transparency and supporting faster, smarter decision making
Weekly performance reviews and look-aheads, both with YVR internal teams and external partners.
Implementation of a revised Demand Management Program, helping balance staffing levels against periods of both high and less high operational need.

Learn more about de-icing at YVR

Thu, 11 Jan 2024 10:06:39 -0800

Maintaining a safe and secure airport operation for travellers, employees and our community is the focus of everything we do. YVR made a significant investment in our airfield snow and ice control measures as well as developed new operational plans to help bolster our overall preparedness, improve procedures and increase available equipment to help manage severe weather events and irregular operations. Part of that includes more efficient de-icing processes and increased de-icing storage capacity.

De-icing operations in the winter are critical to ensuring the safety of our passengers and aircraft. At YVR, we have 29 de-icing trucks. Having a big fleet of de-icing trucks is important because aircraft cannot take off safely without first removing frost, ice or snow from its surface. Any build-up of icy elements can hinder a plane’s ability to fly smoothly and safely.

YVR hosts a Central De-icing Facility with aircraft bays for aircraft where the accumulation of frost, ice or snow is removed and possibly an anti-icing fluid is applied. It can take anywhere from 90 seconds to 15 minutes depending on the size of the plane, weather conditions and the temperature.

Underneath the de-icing pads is an isolated drainage system that captures any excess spillage or runoff that comes off the aircraft in a storage tank. Fluids are then transferred offsite for safe and sustainable treatment and disposal.

Watch the video to learn more about de-icing at YVR and why it’s important.

YVR is Winter Ready: Safely and Reliably Connecting B.C. to the World

Tue, 05 Dec 2023 07:00:00 -0800

2023 has been a year of improving and enhancing the traveller experience at Vancouver International Airport. After challenges in the busiest week of holiday travel in December 2022, YVR has spent this year proactively turning lessons learned into actionable plans. Over the past 11 months, collaborative work has been done in virtually every area of YVR’s operation, building on the insights gained through the comprehensive After Action Review done in January.

These improvements include the installation of real-time weather monitoring equipment, new gating and towing protocols to ensure arriving aircraft have access to gates within 30 minutes, adding more front-line staff to support passengers 24/7, investing in technology to assist airlines in getting inbound bags back to their passengers, use of digital sensors to enable more efficient passenger flow, and implementing new digital tools to help passengers save time throughout the travel process. In addition, YVR has taken a lead role in providing more reliable and consistent information to travellers.

This December, approximately 2 million passengers are expected to fly through YVR – approximately a quarter of a million more than in 2022. The airport predicts the busiest days of holiday travel will be December 20^th, 21^st and 22^nd. As with any busy time, YVR encourages travellers to plan ahead by checking their flight status online, pre-booking parking or transportation, and consider booking their security check-in time using YVR EXPRESS. More information can be found at news.yvr.ca or on X: @YVRairport.

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Introducing the Øverassen TV 1000+ Snowblower

Tue, 05 Dec 2023 06:04:00 -0800

As part of YVR’s 2023 Winter Readiness Enhancements and Preparations, we made a significant investment in airfield snow and ice control measures, including the purchase of 19 pieces of snow clearing equipment.

Today, we are introducing the Øverassen TV 1000+ Snowblower. The work engine on this new snow blower is about double the horsepower of the snow blowers we used last year.

Here are some fun facts about our newest piece of airfield equipment:

It features the world’s first “flying cab” which allows the driver to choose whether they’d like to be in front of or behind the blower chute to ensure optimal view points.
The high-speed blower can reach up to speeds of 62 km/h
The TV 1000+ has two engines ensuring power for both propulsion capacity and snow removal and can remove up to 8,500 tons/h

Watch now to learn more about the Øverassen TV 1000+ and how it will help support our team this winter.