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BC Ferries, YYJ seeing increase in passengers this holiday season

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With Christmas just two days away, many people on Vancouver Island are getting on a plane or a ferry to spend time with family during the holiday season.

At mid-day on Thursday, it was fairly quiet at Victoria International Airport, with most of the larger passenger flights to destinations such as Toronto and Calgary leaving early in the morning. Staff with the Victoria Airport Authority say air passenger traffic has increased since September 2021, but even in the days leading up to Christmas air travel is down compared to pre-pandemic levels.

“December has been relatively good, and I think everyone is pleased to see passengers travelling,” said Rod Hunchak, business development and community relations director for Victoria Airport Authority.

“Through this week, we’re averaging about 4,000 passengers both arriving and departing, and it’s been fairly consistent the last couple of days.”

Hunchak says the last year the airport saw such a large number of passengers travel through it was 2019. He says now, as more people are choosing to travel by air, the airport is much busier than it was in 2020.

He says despite the high transmission rate of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 and B.C. health authorities recommending people stay close to home, the airport did not see a large number of passengers cancelling their flights.

“People probably already had plans in place and it was really up to them if they were going to continue with their travels or not,” said Hunchak. “Previously, when we had announcements like this, it wasn’t so close to a holiday. This time around, it was pretty uncertain how this year the holiday season would unfold.”

Hunchak says the Victoria Airport Authority is increasing its cleaning and sanitizing of all touch points within the airport to minimize the spread of COVID-19. He says the airport has had a mandatory mask use policy inside the terminal building in place for sometime. All people over the age of 12 must be fully vaccinated to travel by air in Canada.

Meanwhile, at Swartz Bay Ferry Terminal, it’s full steam ahead for people travelling to the Greater Vancouver area and other regions of B.C. Staff with BC Ferries say traffic is starting to pick up on the major routes between Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland.

The ferry operator has added a number of extra sailing to its busiest crossings, including the Swartz Bay to Tsawwassen route. It says if you need to get on a ferry during the holiday season, it is advised you make a reservation.

“If you’re travelling without a reservation, we do expect to have some sailing waits around peak times,” said Deborah Marshall, executive director of public affairs for BC Ferries.

“What we find over the holiday period is its about a 10-day period of time where traffic is busy right from the 23rd through until after New Year’s.”

Marshall says passengers who are travelling on BC Ferries must wear masks while in public spaces at terminals and while aboard a ferry. She says BC Ferries has also increased cleaning and sanitization throughout the company’s fleet.

“We do remind customers that if you are feeling sick, please stay at home,” she said.

Staff with both BC Ferries and the Victoria Airport Authority say they advise people to give themselves extra time to get to their destination in a effort to avoid added stress while travelling during the Christmas season.

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