Vancouver International Airport (YVR) has been voted best airport in North America for the second year running by Skytrax Research at the 2011 World Airport Awards in Copenhagen.
The London-based organization determined the winners based on the responses of more than 11 million surveys completed by people of more than 100 nationalities assessing more than 240 airports worldwide over an eight-month period.
The awards rank airports based on 39 criteria, including: getting to and from the airport, waiting times at security, language skills for airport staff, prices charged in retail outlets, baggage delivery efficiency with lost luggage and terminal cleanliness.
Vancouver Airport Authority president and CEO Larry Berg said airport staff friendliness is one key factor that he believes led to the win.
“We worked pretty hard on that factor, leading up to and during the Olympics, to prepare to greet the world, as it were, for the Games,” he said. “I think it really helped to differentiate our offering here.
Berg also honed in on the Canada Line as a key competitive advantage for YVR.
“The Canada Line connection downtown – that’s a pretty rare and precious commodity at airports,” he said.
The award, Berg said, is an asset in a competitive market for passengers.
“It does help attract passengers,” he said. “If you’re coming from Asia to somewhere in North America, you’ve got choices of which airport to connect through. So we try hard to set ourselves apart, distinguish our offering in terms of efficiency and friendliness that will make people want to choose to connect through here, as opposed to San Francisco or Los Angeles.”