Travellers will pay $5 more to fly out of Vancouver International Airport in May to help fund $1.8 billion worth of improvements planned for YVR.
Airport authority CEO Larry Berg announced Wednesday the airport improvement fee will rise to $20 from $15 starting May 1.
The fee applies only to travellers flying out of Vancouver – it does not apply to connecting flights. Those travelling within B.C. or to the Yukon will continue to pay a lower domestic fee of $5.
Berg said the new fee will generate an estimated $29 to $30 million a year, and will cover about half of the $1.8 billion worth of improvements the airport authority says is needed to increase airport efficiency and boost air traffic between Vancouver and Asia.
The rest of the money needed for the improvements will come from commercial revenue, airline charges and debt financing. The improvements are part of a 10-year strategy.
Berg told Business in Vancouver he doesn’t expect the new fee will spark much of a consumer backlash.
“At $20, we’re $5 less than Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, Montreal,” he said. “I think that people in this community will see the fact that the plans we have to expand the airport create jobs in this community.
“A single daily long-haul flight creates 150 to 200 jobs at the airport, and generates about $10 million in wages at the airport.”
The last time YVR raised the airport improvement fee was in 2004. It helped pay for the YVR section of the Canada Line.
Among the improvements YVR is planning is a series of new corridors and moving walkways to speed up connection times between international and domestic terminals. A new high-speed baggage handling system is also planned.
Berg said some of the work will begin next year and will take place over a period of years.
In the last two years, international flights have begun using polar routes that used to be closed, mostly for “geopolitical reasons.”
Now that those routes are available, it means flights from Asia can fly directly to other airports, such as Calgary’s, although Vancouver remains the most direct route to most Asian destinations.
“It’s critical that we continue to invest in and develop the airport to remain competitive in this region,” Berg said.
China’s demand for air travel is growing 7% per year, and YVR is already seeing increased air traffic between Vancouver and China.
China Southern has direct flights to Guangzhou that flies three times per week. It also began an all-cargo service to Shanghai last summer. YVR said China Southern’s passenger service alone generates $2.2 million in wages annually.
Nelson Bennett
@nbennett_biv