Canada's largest airline is set to rebuild its cargo facility at Vancouver International Airport (YVR) to increase capacity.
Air Canada (TSX:AC) operates a building at YVR that processes cargo shipped on passenger planes, and it plans to integrate that building with an adjacent hangar that will soon be empty and available, Air Canada spokeswoman Angela Mah confirmed to BIV.
"Air Canada has acquired additional space for Air Canada Cargo’s growth, for which Air Canada Cargo is still in the early stages working on design and concept," she said in an email.
She did not provide exact square-footage data for current and anticipated future space but the airline's expansion of cargo-facility space in Vancouver is expected to be significant.
Work to integrate the two buildings is expected to start in January.
The airline has been expanding its fleet of Boeing 767 freighter aircraft and is readying to receive two Boeing 777 freighter aircraft by 2024 – something that would substantially increase its cargo capacity. It plans to operate the Boeing 777 planes on trans-Pacific routes out of Vancouver, according to the airline.
The upgrade to Vancouver operations is part of a larger program to improve cargo facilities across the airline's network.
Earlier this year, Air Canada spent $16 million to expand and improve its cold-storage cargo handling at Toronto Pearson International Airport. That upgrade created 30,000 square feet of temperature-controlled area to better maintain perishable goods such as fruits, vegetables and pharmaceuticals.
The airline is also expanding its cargo capacity at airports around the world, such as in Frankfurt, Germany, and London, England.
The airline's cargo revenue surged to a record of about $1.5 billion in 2021.
Its cargo-processing then declined earlier this year as planes that had been converted to fly cargo were repurposed to once again carry passengers. The airline also retired some aircraft during the pandemic, Air Canada managing director of sales planning and effectiveness Timothy Liu told BIV last week.
