Vancouver's international airport saw a strong and better than expected recovery last year, says its chief executive officer.
Larry Berg, the president and CEO of the Vancouver International Airport Authority, told a business audience last week that the airport's biggest growth was the Asia-Pacific market, which saw almost 20 per cent more passengers.
"We forecast 15.1 million passengers - a healthy 5.5-per- cent increase over 2003's 14.3 million passengers," Berg said. "We finished the year with 15.7 million passengers - a 9.8-per- cent increase."
Domestic traffic at the international hub was up nearly 10 per cent and traffic to the United States grew by close to four per cent. Berg noted traffic was so high last summer that during peak periods, all the airport's loading gates were occupied.
In order to capitalize on future growth, the airport is undertaking a major expansion project. "So we've started construction of a $420-million expansion to our international terminal ... that will result in over 1,500 construction jobs," Berg told a luncheon audience at the Vancouver Board of Trade.
The expansion is an even bigger project than building the original portion of the international terminal in 1996, he added. "In fact, at over 600,000 sq. ft., it's almost four times the size of the playing field at BC Place and half the size of the new Vancouver Trade and Convention Centre."
The expansion will take place in two phases. The first phase will open in June of 2007 and if air traffic continues to grow at its current pace, the second phase of the expansion will be completed by 2009.
This will result in a total of nine new loading gates, two of which will be able to handle the world's largest aircraft, the A380.
The huge A380 is expected to be in service next year and will be capable of carrying 550 passengers on two decks.
One of the challenges facing the airport is the new security measures put in place after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
"Last summer it wasn't just the gates that were full - the lines in the customs and immigration hall got pretty long too," Berg admitted. "New security procedures mean processing times are slower. Before 9/11 we could handle 3,200 passenger an hour; now that's reduced to 2,300."
He noted the airport effectively is a border for entry into Canada and also an entry point into the United States, because customs pre-clearance into the U.S. takes place at the airport. "We need to make this border fast and efficient for low-risk travellers," he told the audience.
However, the airport authority was pleased with the recent decision by the Canadian and U.S. governments to select Vancouver for the 17-month Nexus Air pilot project.
Under this program, pre-approved travellers receive a biometric card that will allow them to use a kiosk to complete the customs and immigration process. "The whole process can take as little as 60 seconds, Berg said.
He urged his audience to consider using the Nexus program if they are frequent travellers to the U.S.
The solution to border congestion is not building bigger customs facilities, but using technology, he added.
The airport's strategic plan for the next 40 years envisions Vancouver as a premier global gateway for passengers and cargo between the Americas and Asia by seizing the advantage of its strategic geographic location, closer to Asia than other West Coast cities.
Berg said a reasonable 2044 passenger projection for Vancouver's airport would be about 45 million travellers a year, three times the current passenger volume.
Air cargo is projected to total 1.3 million tonnes, more than five times today's numbers.
"In 40 years, a fair estimate would be 500,000 aircraft takeoffs and landings per year - the size of Denver or Las Vegas today. That's almost twice as much as last year's takeoffs and landings. And it's more than our current runway system can handle."
And all of that will create a lot of new jobs, he added. Today there are 26,000 jobs in the airport area, and that is expected to rise to 53,000 jobs once the airport processes 45 million passengers a year.
The airport's infrastructure will also have to undergo changes.
The options include twinning various bridges, using exclusive highway lanes from and to the airport, and developing polices that would encourage people to use rapid transit, buses and car pools.
"It might include tolls on bridges, incentives to employees who carpool or use transit, or higher parking fees," Berg said.
Meanwhile, Berg noted the federal government's apparent willingness to make changes to international aviation agreements is good news.
"Not only do we need better access to Asian markets, we also need a more liberal air agreement with the United States."
Sixty per cent of Canada's international aviation treaties don't allow foreign-carrier access to Vancouver, he said, adding the old Canadian paradigm of air treaties with limited route rights and frequencies must change if Canada is to remain competitive in a global economy.
(George Froehlich can be reached at george@businessedge.ca)
