Passenger numbers at YVR have demonstrated a successful first half of the year with continued growth across all major sectors, including a record-breaking spike in travellers from the Latin American market.
More than 418,000 passengers from Latin America have travelled through YVR in the first six months of 2017, a 25.2 per cent year-over-year increase.
The Government of Canada’s decision to remove the tourist visa for Mexican visitors has led to strong travel growth from that market. The Mexican Embassy in Canada expects more than 300,000 Mexican tourists to visit Canada in 2017, with Vancouver making its debut on the top 20 list as a favourite summer vacation spot for Mexicans.
Year-Over-Year Passenger Growth Highlights: January – June 2017
- 13.5 per cent increase in international traffic
- 5.2 per cent increase in domestic traffic
- 9.5 per cent increase in U.S. transborder traffic
International Traffic (Latin America, Asia Pacific, Europe)
From January to June 2017, international traffic (excluding the U.S.) increased by 9.2 per cent over the same period in 2016.
Latin America
Latin America has been a leading market in the first half of 2017 with a 25.3 per cent passenger increase, largely attributed to the removal of the visa requirements for Mexican visitors to Canada. Aeromexico began double-daily service to Mexico in May and was a major contributor to growth. In addition, Sunwing and Air Canada showed strong growth in the sector with increased frequencies to major resort destinations. YVR anticipates this market to continue to grow throughout the year, as demonstrated by WestJet’s recent announcement of new service to Huatulco, Mexico.
Asia Pacific
The Asia Pacific sector continued with an impressive double-digit growth rate of 19.9 per cent, driven by the full-year effect of Air Canada’s Delhi, India and Brisbane, Australia services, launched October 2016 and June 2017, respectively. YVR also celebrated the launch of Capital Airlines and its new service to Vancouver and Hangzhou, China via Qingdao, along with Cathay Pacific’s additional three-times weekly service to Hong Kong and the launch of Hong Kong Airlines daily service between Vancouver and Hong Kong.
Europe
Europe sector was up by 2.6 per cent over the same period in 2016. This increase was driven by maturation of WestJet’s London-Gatwick Airport service, in addition to Air Canada’s new daily service to Frankfurt, Germany and Air Canada Rouge’s new service to London-Gatwick.
Transborder Traffic
The U.S. Transborder sector was up 5.3 per cent over the same period last year, driven by Air Canada’s newly launched daily services to Boston, Denver and Dallas, and the full-year effect of Chicago, San Diego and San Jose services. WestJet also had a positive year-over-year impact as it grew its seat capacity with increased frequencies to San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Domestic Traffic
The Domestic sector increased 3.4 per cent over 2016. This increase is attributed to strong consumer demand, with capacity increases from both Air Canada and West Jet.
“Looking forward, YVR is expected to see a steady rise in passenger growth as Air Canada recently launched services to Dallas, Denver, Frankfurt, Taipei, and Air Canada Rouge’s new services to London-Gatwick and Nagoya continue to mature over the next six months,” said Craig Richmond, president and CEO, Vancouver Airport Authority. “I would like to extend a big thank-you to Air Canada for their work in launching these six new services this year and for continuing to build their preferred transpacific hub at YVR.”
Air Canada will launch new services to Yellowknife, Northwest Territories and Melbourne, Australia in December 2017, marking the first ever direct, non-stop flight from Canada to this Australian city.
To view a full list of carriers and destinations from YVR, visit yvr.ca/en/passengers.
