|
|
| Home > City Guide - Vancouver - Getting There By Air | ||
|
||
|
Getting There By Air Vancouver International Airport (YVR) Tel: (604) 276 6500 or 207 7077 (information). Fax: (604) 276 6505. Website: www.yvr.ca The airport is located 15km (nine miles) southwest of the city centre and is a major gateway between Pacific Rim and North American destinations. It serves over 15 million passengers annually, making it Canada’s second busiest airport. The international and domestic terminals are connected directly to one another. The South Terminal handles float plane and helicopter services, which are also available to the Downtown waterfront on Burrard Inlet. Major airlines: The national airline is Air Canada (tel: (888) 247 2262; website: www.aircanada.ca), which operates regional services under the Air Canada Jazz moniker and also runs a low-cost domestic airline, Tango (tel: (800) 315 1390; website: www.flytango.com). The low-cost airline, WestJet (tel: (888) 937 8538; website: www.westjet.com), operates flights between Vancouver and other destinations, mainly in western Canada. Among the 40 other carriers serving the airport are Air Transat, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines, KLM, Lufthansa, Northwest Airlines, Qantas, Singapore Airlines and United Airlines. Approximate flight times to Vancouver: From London is 9 hours 40 minutes; from New York is 6 hours 25 minutes; from Los Angeles is 2 hours 40 minutes; from Toronto is 4 hours 50 minutes and from Sydney is 18 hours 30 minutes. Airport facilities: These include a hotel, duty-free and other shops, newspaper stands, restaurants, bars, nursery, bank, bureaux de change, ATMs, left luggage, Internet payphones, DVD rentals, chapel, hair salon, health spa and visitor information. Car hire is available from Alamo, Avis, Budget, Hertz, National and Thrifty. Business facilities: In addition to airline lounges, there is the CDS Business Centre (tel: (604) 303 4500; fax: (604) 303 4512) in the international terminal. Services include fax, photocopying and computer workstations. Arrival/departure tax: An airport improvement fee (AIF) is payable upon departure – C$5 for flights within British Columbia, C$10 to North America and C$15 for the rest of the world. Other departure taxes are included in the ticket price. Transport to the city: The Greater Vancouver Transportation Authority, under the name TransLink (tel: (604) 953 3333; website: www.translink.bc.ca), operates city buses and the Sky Train, which combine to provide a convenient route into the city centre from the airport. Bus 424 operates a service 0530-2445 Monday-Friday, to the Airport Station bus terminal, with frequent connections to the 98B express bus, which runs 0427-0119, stopping at Downtown SkyTrain stations (total journey time – 45 minutes). Bus 100 travels from the Airport Station to 22nd Street SkyTrain Station. Departures are every seven-eight minutes at peak times and every 15 minutes evenings and weekends. The fare is C$2-4. A coach service to Downtown Vancouver hotels and the main bus depot is provided by Airporter (tel: (604) 946 8866 or (800) 668 3141) every 15 minutes 0630-2130, then every half an hour until 2410 (journey time – 25-45 minutes). Fares cost C$12 one way and C$18 return (concessions are available). Coaches are also available to Seattle, Victoria and Whistler. The taxi fare to Downtown is approximately C$25-30 (journey time – 25 minutes). A limousine service is also available from Limojet Gold (tel: (604) 273 1331; website: www.limojetgold.com) for a flat rate of C$32 to the city centre. |
||
