The Vancouver International Airport is seeing the need to accommodate more travelers than ever before. With larger planes coming into the airport and more airlines, the airport needs a major facelift. There are some exciting upgrades coming to the Vancouver International Airport over the course of the next several years.
The Best Airport In 2016
For the seventh consecutive year, Skytrax World Airport Awards named the Vancouver International Airport the best airport in North America. Last year it served over 22 million passengers and by 2037 it’s expect to have over 35 million passengers a year. Because of the busyness of the airport and the amount of people it serves, it’s necessary to make some changes in order to make passengers more comfortable and to make having to go to the airport a more inviting experience.
The Flight Plan
The upgrades are being referred to as a “Flight Plan” and will cost around $5.6 billion dollars. These upgrades are expected to include:
- A geothermal plan. This is still in the planning phases, but if they do include it, it will reduce a lot of the greenhouse gas emissions produced by the airport.
- Sleeping pods and showers. This will allow travelers with long layovers a comfortable place to rest and to freshen up in between flights. Since many flights do have long layers at this airport, this is greatly needed.
- A new plane spotting location. Those waiting for a flight to arrive will have a new location to watch for it. This will alleviate some of the congestion in other plane spotting locations.
- An indoor forest. While this may seem like an odd addition to an airport, it isn’t for this one. They already have a public observation area and two huge aquariums. The indoor forest will be glassed in, but have an open top.
- New food choices. As the airport gets busier, more choices in dining are needed. The Flight Plan will include a variety of more restaurants and eateries for travelers to choose from. This may range from sit down establishments or grab and go options.
For those that are interested in learning more about these upgrades, the Vancouver International Airport posted a “Fly Through” on their Twitter page that shows visitors what some of these upgrades might actually look like. While the plan is still coming together, the goals of it are simple: to provide an airport that will meet the expected needs of flyers long term and in a sustainable fashion.
