When it comes to its significance as an international gateway in North America, Vancouver International Airport (YVR) is aligned with Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) and just behind Chicago O’Hare International Airport.
A new report by OAG, a global travel data analysis firm, ranked both YVR and IAH in a ninth-place tie in the ranking of the ‘major’ North American international airports with the most international flights. Both airports have service to 68 international destinations.
YVR also punches well above its weight, considering the other airports in this top 10 list are in considerably larger urban centres.
Airports were ranked in separate size groups — major, large, medium, and small — based on the airport’s proportion of departing seat capacity in North America.
The pinnacle ‘major’ group also included Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ), which ranked first with 163 international routes, followed by New York John F. Kennedy with 127 routes, Miami International Airport with 112 routes, and Montreal Pierre Elliott Trudeau (YUL) with 103 routes.
Canadian airports also had some of the best turnaround times for the ‘major’ group; YUL was ranked first, with YYZ and YVR following at second and fourth, respectively.
In the ‘medium’ group, Abbotsford International Airport (YXX) was recognized as the second fastest growing airport in that particular ranking, with the number of airline seats increasing by 43%, largely due to WestJet Swoop’s designation as its hub in the BC Lower Mainland…
