Victoria International Airport Departures (YYJ)

Victoria International Airport is quite a large airport in the province of British Columbia, Canada, and is referred to by its IATA code of YYJ. It is also known as the Sidney Airport, due to its location in the area of Sidney. Victoria Airport handles around 1.5 million passengers every year, on arrival and departure flights to and from a wide variety of local and international destinations. The Victoria International Airport departure lounges are well equipped for the needs of its passengers, and there are modern systems in place to ensure that passengers experience as smooth a departure as possible. There are also a number of ways in which a passenger can reach a departure flight from Victoria, as several forms of ground transport are available.

Victoria International Airport is located approximately 22km, or 14 miles from the city of Victoria, and is found on the Saanich Peninsula of Vancouver Island. This is the second busiest airport in British Columbia, and the ninth busiest for passenger movements in Canada. Passengers on departure flights can travel to the airport in their own vehicles, as parking spaces are available. There are car parking spaces ideal for short stays (less than two hours) and spaces which are more affordable for longer stays of a few days. The parking lots are all within walking distance of the check-in areas, and are therefore very convenient. Victoria Airport can be reached via the Patricia Bay Highway, or the Highway 17, which runs from downtown Victoria. The drive is twenty to forty minutes depending on traffic conditions. The new McTavish Road interchange makes the drive to the airport even easier. This interchange was completed in April 2011. Other main roads of importance for airport access include the W Saanich Road, McTavish Road, Canora Road and Willingdon Road.

Alternatively, passengers on Victoria International Airport departure flights can use the public bus routes 83, 86 and 88, or the Akal Airporter bus, which is frequently available from a large number of downtown locations. Passengers can also travel to Victoria International Airport on long-distance coaches from Nanaimo, Duncan and various other areas on the island. Taxis are readily available in the city, and will cost around $56.00 to travel to the airport.

Passengers have a large range of airline companies and destinations from which to choose when flying from Victoria International Airport. The airport’s main airline carriers include Air Canada (the largest airline company of Canada), Horizon Air, Island Express Air, Orca Airways, Pacific Coastal Airlines, Sunwing Airlines and SkyWest Airlines. WestJet and Flair Airlines are another two popular choices with flights to local cities, such as Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Kelowna and Comox, and CanJet is a carrier with seasonal international flights to Cancun and Puerto Vallarta in Mexico. Air Canada offers departure flights to the Toronto-Pearson International Airport, and Horizon Air and SkyWest have flights to the cities of Seattle/Tacoma and San Francisco in the United States of America. It will take 5 hours to reach Toronto, 25 minutes to reach Nanaimo or Vancouver, 50 minutes on a flight to Kelowna, almost 6 hours to reach Cancun and an hour and forty minutes to fly to San Francisco. The majority of the departure flights offered from Victoria Airport are under six hours in duration.

The airport of Victoria International consists of one terminal building, large enough to handle all passenger operations, yet small enough still be to convenient for passengers. There are no lengthy walking distances to endure, or any shuttle buses that will need to be used for transportation. The airport has had several improvements over the last few years, and has a plan for its expansion that will be carried out over the next twenty years. The latest developments for the airport have included two new passenger loading bridges and a new car park. A bicycle/walking path is also being built around the perimeter of the airport property. Currently, Victoria International Airport is not one of the eight in Canada with U.S. border preclearance facilities, but this is one of the services that is including in the airport’s twenty year expansion program. For now, departing passengers will need to clear both U.S. Customs and Immigration upon arrival at their United States airport.

The airport’s terminal building is open from 03:30am to 01:30am, however, the domestic area will be opened if a passenger arrives early for his/her departure flight, or if a flight is scheduled to depart earlier in the morning. Within the terminal there are many useful facilities for arriving and departing passengers. The airport’s shops include LS Travel Retail North America, which is a gift shop found before security, and the restaurants available include Starbucks Coffee, Tim Hortons and the Airside Cafe. The shops and restaurants are open daily from 04:30/05:00 to about 20:00. The facilities of Victoria International Airport also include a lost and found office, free wireless internet services, currency exchange services, ATMs, a pet relieve area, public telephones and a family room. In the upper passenger departure lounge, there is a children’s play area, as well as business workstations. Duty free services are provided by HDS Retail North America.

Victoria International Airport welcomes passengers with disabilities, as the terminal is adapted for their needs. There are reserved parking spaces within close proximity of the terminal entrance, as well as designated curb-side areas for dropping off passengers with special needs, and the entrances to the terminal are equipped with automated sliding doors. Lowered check-in counters are available, as well as suitable restroom facilities. Further assistance can be provided by the Red Coat Airport Volunteers who are found at the information desk in the arrivals area.

Passengers on domestic flights should arrive at Victoria no later than one hour before their time of departure, while passengers on transborder flights should arrive an hour and a half before their flight. International flight passengers are recommended to arrive at least two hours before their scheduled time of departure. Certain airline companies allow passengers to check-in online, and there are also self-service check-in kiosks within the terminal building. Passengers may also use the conventional check-in counters.

Live Victoria International Airport departure flights can be found online, or the airport can be contacted for further information at (250) 953-7533.