December’s busy travel period won’t be enough to push Victoria International Airport’s passenger volumes above the two million mark as 2019 proves to be a challenging year for the Island’s biggest air hub.

 

 

In 2018 Victoria International (YYJ) welcomed 2.05 million travellers and set a new record for airline travel to and from the B.C. Capital after several years of record-breaking growth. This year, however, a pull-out by United Airlines with flights to San Francisco and Delta Airline’s nixing of services to Seattle saw cross-border travel cut in half throughout some months with an overall passenger decline of 24% between January and November.

 

With domestic travel dipping 3.4% throughout the first 11 months of the year and the plunge in cross-border travellers, YYJ is on track to shed between 5.5% and 7% of its 2018 passenger volumes and land at approximately 1.9 million in 2019, a total that would place it squarely between 2016’s and 2017’s activity.

 

While YYJ’s long-term focus is growth oriented, short-term growing pains could yield tepid performance in 2020 as airlines continue to reposition resources to key markets and connect secondary markets to hubs with the use of smaller turboprop aircraft. That being said, Westjet’s no-frills, low-cost subsidiary Swoop will finally arrive at YYJ in 2020 with a seasonal connection to Winnipeg, joining Air Canada Rouge’s seasonal flights to Montreal. Year-round flights offered by Westjet and Air Canada connect Victoria to Vancouver, Kelowna, Edmonton, Calgary and Toronto. Whitehorse is serviced by Yukon-based Air North.

 

A direct connection to America is currently limited to Horizon Air’s Seattle flights, although United Airlines has expressed interest in a Denver service pending availability of gates at the Colorado hub.

 

International destinations represent YYJ’s only growth sector this year with a 15% passenger increase through November. Direct flights are offered to six Mexican destinations that include Cancun, Puerta Vallarta and Ixtapa.

 

Passenger statistics aside, the Victoria Airport Authority (VAA) is in the final stages of a $20 million terminal expansion project that has doubled the footprint of the lower departures area and opened up additional opportunities for air-side food and commercial services. The work is the latest phase of improvements to the terminal which has been steadily increasing in size since the early 2000s. 

 

The VAA is also considering expanding YYJ’s longest runway from 7,000 feet to approximately 7,600, which the organization identified earlier this year as a possible goal for 2023-2024. A longer runway would open new route opportunities for carriers utilizing larger aircraft.

 

Situated in North Saanich, Victoria International Airport is the nation’s 11th busiest, ahead of Québec City Jean Lesage International Airport and behind Kelowna International Airport which broached 10th place in 2018. C

Receive Citified's timely real-estate news straight to your inbox. Sign up for our newsletter.