Vancouver International Airport (YVR) served its 25-millionth annual passenger, two years ahead of forecast. This accelerated growth can be attributed to a strong B.C. economy and an impressive three years of air service development due to ConnectYVR—YVR's five-year aeronautical rates and charges program. ConnectYVR rewards airlines for growing their services at YVR as a means to create more jobs, increase access to global destinations and open additional markets for B.C. goods.
YVR is operated by Vancouver Airport Authority, a financially-independent organization that is governed by a non-political Board of Directors appointed from the community. Every dollar earned by the Airport Authority is reinvested into the operation and growth of the airport to improve facilities, enhance services, reduce costs and support community initiatives. YVR's unique operating model allows for greater support and investment in the community, thereby creating jobs and driving economic and social benefits.
YVR plays a significant role in the local, provincial and national economy—creating jobs and driving business activity. The airport supports 24,000 jobs on Sea Island and more than 100,000 jobs across the province. YVR's operations—together with tourism and cargo—contribute more than $16 billion in total economic output, $8.4 billion in GDP and $1.4 billion in government revenue across B.C.
Growth projections show that YVR will serve 32 million passengers by 2022, with 29 million passengers targeted for 2020. YVR has also updated its targets to facilitate the movement of 327,000 tonnes of cargo and serve 144 destinations by 2020—currently YVR connects people and businesses to 127 non-stop destinations worldwide. Each new flight through YVR creates hundreds of jobs and contributes millions of dollars in economic benefit to the province.
To accommodate this continued growth, YVR embarked on an ambitious 20-year, $9.1 billion expansion program earlier this year. These expansion projects have additional significant economic and employment benefits in the region. Construction activities at YVR have created nearly 2,500 full-time construction jobs on Sea Island in 2018 and hundreds more off-site, and they are expected to sustain thousands of jobs for the next two decades. 
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Craig Richmond, President and CEO, Vancouver Airport Authority: "Growth at YVR is good for the region and the province of British Columbia. Each new flight brings substantial impact, creating hundreds of jobs and providing millions of dollars in economic benefit across the province. We have been growing at an incredible pace and couldn't have done this without help from our amazing airport community. We will continue to rely on our partners to deliver excellent customer experiences as we address this growth with our ambitious multi-billion-dollar construction program to build the airport of the future."
Chief Wayne Sparrow, Musqueam Indian Band: "YVR is located on Musqueam traditional lands and we are pleased to help welcome the 25 millionth passenger. We all benefit from this growth—our community has seen this first hand with our members filling many job openings in the last year. We are excited to continue to work with YVR to grow a mutually beneficial and respectful friendship."
Mark Galardo, Vice President, Network Planning at Air Canada: "We congratulate our partner YVR on their significant milestone of welcoming 25 million passengers! Air Canada has strategically built YVR as its premier trans-Pacific hub, having grown our capacity here by more than 52% over the past five years, translating to more than 700,000 seats departing YVR this past August alone. Seamless connections through in-transit preclearance facilities and competitive elapsed flying times have helped make Air Canada and YVR a preferred option for trans-Pacific travel by efficiently connecting our extensive international flights from Asia, Australia, India, Europe, Caribbean and Mexico to our broad Canadian and North American network."
Marsha Walden, CEO, Destination British Columbia: "This is an incredible milestone. As British Columbia's primary gateway for air travellers, YVR plays an integral role in bringing visitors to all parts of our province. And, as the best airport in North America, we know YVR is a special starting place for the extraordinary experiences our province offers global visitors."
Ty Speer, President and CEO, Tourism Vancouver: "We congratulate YVR on reaching their goal of serving 25 million passengers two years ahead of plan. As an integral part of the tourism industry, YVR has demonstrated time and again their commitment to celebrating Vancouver's global brand by growing and improving their facilities to be the preferred hub for global travellers to our region."