Big Year for Canadian Airports

Photo courtesy of Billy Bishop Toronto Island City Airport

Five Canadian airports have been ranked best of the best, according to the Skytrax World Airport Awards. The premier international airport ranking system in the world, Skytrax queries 13 million air travellers at 550 airports globally to determine which airports, airlines and airport hotels are deemed tops each year.

Vancouver International Airport, Toronto Pearson International Airport, Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, Montreal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport and Halifax Stanfield Airport were included in seven Skytrax category designations, placing them alongside the best airports in North America and the world. More impressively, Canada’s airports managed to earn this prestigious honor while serving record-breaking passenger loads in 2015.

Vancouver International Airport

Vancouver International Airport earned highest marks as the “Best Airport in North America.” This is the record-breaking seventh straight year Vancouver has earned this designation. It also earned the top slot in the “Best Airports in the World, handling 10 to 20 million passengers” category. Vancouver’s top-notch customer service also earned the airport the third-place slot on the “Best Airport Staff in North America” list. The airport-adjacent Fairmont Vancouver Airport was also recognized by Skytrax, earning the #6 slot in the “World’s Best Airport Hotels” category and first place on the list of “Best Airport Hotels in North America.”

Vancouver International Airport is one of Canadas’s fastest growing airports, and it broke passenger attendance records last year when it received its 20 millionth passenger in December. The airport inaugurated service from two new international carriers last year, Air France and Aeromexico. Officials have announced that they expect the airport to grow to 25 million passengers by 2020.

Toronto Pearson International Airport

Toronto Pearson International Airport also earned its share of Skytrax recognition. For 2016, it holds the No. 5 slot in the “Best Airports in North America” category, the No. 9 slot in the “Best Airports in the World handling 30 to 40 million passengers” category, and the No. 5 slot for “Best Airport Staff in North America.”

Toronto Pearson also broke passenger records last year, when it became the first Canadian airport to welcome 40 million passengers. The airport operates some 1,200 flights per day to 99 international destinations, 48 destinations in the United States and 30 destinations in Canada; it is North America’s second-busiest airport for international passengers.

Billy Bishop Toronto Island City Airport

Across town, the Billy Bishop Toronto Island City Airport earned itself the #9 slot in the “Best Regional Airports in North America category.” Earlier this month, the airport was also recognized by Airports Council International (ACI) as one of the best airports in North America.

Billy Bishop served more than 2.5 million passengers last year, making it Canada’s ninth-largest airport. It is Canada’s sixth-busiest airport serving the United States, and earlier this month it became one of two airports included in an expanded TSA Pre-Clearance program.

Montreal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport

Montreal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport also earned a nod from Skytrax for its customer service, earning the No. 9 position in the “Best Airport Staff in North America” category.

In 2015, Montreal–Trudeau set a new record, welcoming more 15.5 million passengers for the first time in its history. The airport serves 137 direct destinations, including more than 80 cities internationally. It is the number two airport in Canada for “diversity of air services,” which includes a new direct flight to Beijing on Air China with continuing service to Havana. 

Halifax Stanfield International Airport

The Canadian airport with the most Skytrax recognition for last year was Halifax Stanfield International Airport. The airport earned high marks in five categories, including “Best Airports in the World handling under 5 million passengers” (#3), “Best Domestic Airports” (#7), “Best Airports in North America” (#8), “Best Regional Airports in North America” (#8) and “Best Airport Staff in North America” (#6).

Halifax Stanfield also enjoyed the busiest year in history last year, serving some 3.7 million passengers. The airport’s largest growth came from domestic travellers, which increased by 2.7 per cent over the previous year. Domestic growth was fueled in part by new flights on Air Canada rouge to Calgary, WestJet Encore to Deer Lake, Gander and Sydney, and additional capacity to St. John’s and Ottawa. The airport now handles more than 170 daily flights serving Canada, the United States, Europe, Mexico, and the Caribbean.

Skytrax Categories with Canadian Airports

Best Airports in North America

1. Vancouver International Airport (Vancouver, B.C.)
2. Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport (Cincinnati, Ohio)
3. Denver International Airport (Denver, Colo.)
4. San Francisco International Airport (San Francisco, Calif.)
5. Toronto Pearson International Airport (Toronto, Ont.)
6. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (Atlanta, Ga.)
7. Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (Seattle, Wash.)
8. Halifax Stanfield International Airport (Halifax, N.S.)
9. New York JFK Airport (New York, N.Y.)
10. Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (Dallas, Texas)

Best Airports in the World, handling 30-40 million passengers per year

1. Munich Airport (Germany)
2. Narita International Airport (Japan)
3. Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport (Taiwan)
4. Sydney Airport (Australia)
5. Melbourne Airport (Australia)
6. Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport (China)
7. Barcelona El Prat Airport (Spain)
8. Gatwick Airport (United Kingdom)
9. Toronto Pearson International Airport (Canada)
10. Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport (China)

Best Airports in the World, handling 10 to 20 million passengers per year

1. Vancouver International Airport (Vancouver, Canada)
2. Kansai International Airport (Osaka, Japan)
3. Auckland International Airport (Auckland, New Zealand)
4. Helsinki-Vantaa International Airport (Helsinki, Finland)
5. Johannesburg International Airport (Johannesburg, South Africa)
6. Jorge Chávez International Airport (Lima, Peru)
7. Hamburg Airport (Hamburg, Germany)
8. Lisbon Portela Airport (Lisbon, Portugal)
9. Haikou Meilan International Airport (Haikou, China)
10. Athens International Airport (Athens, Greece)

Best Airport in the World, handling under 5 million passengers per year

1. Durban (King Shaka) International Airport (South Africa)
2. London City Airport (United Kingdom)
3. Halifax Stanfield International Airport (Canada)
4. Aeropuerto de Guayaquil (Ecuador)
5. Keflavik International Airport (Iceland)
6. Billund Airport (Denmark)
7. Luxembourg Airport (Luxembourg)
8. Malta International Airport (Malta)
9. Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport (Mauritius)
10. Kazan International Airport (Russia)

Best Domestic Airports

1 Tokyo Haneda International Airport (Japan)
2. Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport (China)
3. Durban (King Shaka) International Airport (South Africa)
4. Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport (Cincinnati, Ohio)
5. Denver International Airport (Denver, Colo.)
6. Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (Seattle, Wash.)
7. Halifax Stanfield International Airport (Halifax, N.S.)
8. Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport (China)
9. Haikou Meilan International Airport (China)
10. Bengaluru International Airport (India)

Best Regional Airports in North America

1. Denver International Airport (Denver, Colo.)
2. Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport (Cincinnati, Ohio)
3. Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (Seattle, Wash.)
4. Halifax Stanfield International Airport (Halifax, N.S.)
5. Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport (St. Paul, Minn.)
6. Detroit Metropolitan Airport (Detroit, Mich.)
7. Raleigh-Durham International Airport (Raleigh, N.C.)
8. Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (Phoenix, Ariz.)
9. Billy Bishop Toronto City International Airport (Toronto, Ont.)
10. San Diego International Airport (San Diego, Calif.)

Best Airport Staff in North America

1. San Francisco International Airport (San Francisco, Calif.)
2. Denver International Airport (Denver, Colo.)
3. Vancouver International Airport (Vancouver, B.C.)
4. Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport (Cincinnati, Ohio)
5. Toronto Pearson International Airport (Toronto, Ont.)
6. Halifax Stanfield International Airport (Halifax, N.S.)
7. Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport (St. Paul, Minn.)
8. Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (Seattle, Wash.)
9. Montreal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport (Montreal, Que.)
10. Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (Dallas, Texas)

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