‘09 airport passenger traffic tied with ‘08 despite economic ills
A view of Victoria International Airport. The airport's passenger traffic remained almost on par with 2008's traffic, despite economic uncertainties. Photo © Victoria Airport Authority.
Victoria International Airport’s 2009 passenger traffic remained virtually on-par with 2008 despite an economic downturn, declining 0.4% or just over 5,500 passengers, according to statistics released by the Victoria Airport Authority.
1,532,889 passengers flew to or from Victoria International in 2009, a majority of whom (1,268,259) traveled between Canadian destinations. With the introduction of seasonal non-stop flights to Honolulu, a re-introduction of seasonal flights to Las Vegas and an increase in daily service to San Francisco, US-bound travel increased by 18,724 passengers, or roughly 8% over 2008. International sun destinations like Puerto Vallarta and Cancun, Mexico, operated as seasonal direct flights by Westjet, helped boost international traffic to 14,729 passengers, representing a 49% increase over 2008.
2009, however, marked the first passenger traffic decline since the early 2000’s. In 2003, the airport saw growth of 7.3% over 2002, with continued growth of well above 5% through 2007 and just under 4% in 2008.
At just over 1.5-million passengers in 2009, Victoria International held on to its rank as the 9th busiest airport in Canada, although Kelowna International Airport, currently in 10th place, appears to be catching up with 1,367,631 passengers having flown through the smaller city’s facility. And it’s this discrepancy between passenger volumes at Victoria International and other similarly-sized Canadian cities that illustrates our region’s lack of direct flights and high ticket costs.
For comparisons sake, Halifax’s Stanfield International airport serves over 3.5-million passengers a year and is situated in a city not much bigger than Victoria. Saskatoon’s John G. Deifenbaker International Airport serves 1.1-million passengers per year with a metropolitan population of well under 250,000.
This large gap in passenger traffic for a city of Victoria’s size is attributed by some individuals to the high cost of choosing Victoria International over other facilities. “I always fly out of Bellingham or Seattle, it saves me a ton of money every time,” writes VibrantVictoria.ca discussion forum member “concorde,” who claims to save as much as $600 by omitting Victoria’s airport and heading for cheaper options on the mainland. “Victoria Airport needs to get its act together and stop worrying about how good… it looks architecturally. People want cheap prices,” he added.
A quick ticket check on the Internet backs up “concorde’s” claims of higher ticket prices. A non-direct flight between Victoria and Las Vegas with Westjet on March 01 (return March 15), costs $588.33. Bellingham to Vegas with Alaska Airlines costs $245.80 USD. That’s quite a difference. For a Canadian comparison, direct return service from Victoria to Toronto with Air Canada on March 10th (returning March 24th) costs a hefty $743.75. From Vancouver International Airport, a mere 30 miles away from Victoria International and only a few moments of additional flying time for a passenger jet, the fare is $225.75 cheaper at $518.00. For a budget-conscious traveler, that $225 difference is large enough to make make a return trip on a Pacific Coach bus to Vancouver International a great deal at $92.
The Airport Authority is aware that not everyone is pleased with the services it provides to the capital region, and it wants to hear what the public has to say. The Authority has launched an online survey that it hopes will shed light on major issues of contention and to recognize what the public feels has improved. And on February 23rd, it’s hosting a public meeting at the Victoria Marriott Inner Harbour Hotel to present a report from the Authority’s board Chair, a report from the President and CEO, discuss new business issues and hold a public participation period.
To stay up to date on the latest news and events concerning the Victoria International Airport, refer to VibrantVictoria.ca’s dedicated discussion forum thread here. To view passenger statistics for the airport, click here.
Copyright © 2010 by VibrantVictoria.ca. All rights reserved.
Responses to this Headline or Article
The five most recent replies to VibrantVictoria.ca's discussion forum's Victoria International Airport (YYJ) thread, the most relevant thread to the above headline or article:
G-Man
Jan 19, 2012 at 9:41 am^ Alaska does the same thing. Just select fare calendar when looking for tickets. You can find days that are discounted 50%. If I were in the bus a Allegiant feeder route from Vic would seem to make sense to me from Vic. I mean we ar doing this from Victoria to Sea and YVR why not to Bellingham. Let alone the fact that Bellingham is a really nice city with some great stuff to do around it.
While I am on it. Why there is not a Sidney to Bellingham Passenger ferry is beyond me as well. We seem to treat one of our closest geographic neighbours as if it does not exist!
AllseeingEye
Jan 19, 2012 at 2:01 pmSome good points here to be sure; on a postive note re: YYJ one nice charter option for those heading to the Mayan particularly, where we're headed also in March, is the CanJet direct flight option to Cancun. Nice not having to dog-leg via Calgary or Edmonton. Also CanJet's departure/arrival times are some of the best in the industry.
Bob Fugger
Jan 19, 2012 at 2:27 pmQuote: In March I am travelling with my sister's family to Oahu. They are driving down from Qualicum, taking the ferry from Nanaimo to Tsawassen and then driving to Seattle the night before ourHawaiian Air flight. (Flights from YVR to HON are much more expensive and don't arrive at convenient times). I had originally planned to fly YYJ - SEA on Horizon , but the quotes on the return flight were going to be more than the cost of a return flight from SEA to Honolulu. This seemed outrageous to me. I will now be taking the ferry from Swartz Bay to Tsawassen and joining my sister's family for their drive to Seattle. 2 nights in an airport hotel before/after the Hawaii flights is substantially cheaper than flying YYJ-SEA return.
You can do Kenmore Air from the Inner Harbour direct to Sea-Tac for less than $300 - in 2 hours. That's half of the Full Flex Horizon fare, plus you don't have to deal with YYJ at all.
Bingo
Jan 19, 2012 at 2:35 pmQuote: You can do Kenmore Air from the Inner Harbour direct to Sea-Tac for less than $300 - in 2 hours.
Seat-Tac was closed earlier this morning due to the freezing rain on the runways.
G-Man
Jan 19, 2012 at 2:43 pmKenmore also accepts Alaska Airmiles and the cost to fly to Seattle is like 10k miles which is pretty good!
