Vancouver Prepares for the Olympics

Well, the Winter Olympic Games are coming up, and I'm pretty excited to be watching some curling. (No, really!) A huge event like this requires a massive amount of planning, and it's no different for Vancouver's airport (CYVR/YVR), which will be giving many athletes and cheering fans their first impression of the city, and naturally, airport management wants it to be a good one! So that means dealing with an increase of passengers. In fact, on March 1, the day after the Games end, YVR is expecting 39,000 passengers, which is nearly 40% more than the airports busiest travel day ever. So the airport has been preparing for years, seeking the advice of previous host cities to learn how to effectively manage the additional traffic.

In a recent MSNBC column, Harriet Baskas outlines some of the challenges that the airport will face, and how it is planning to respond to them.  For example, athletes carry about 3-5 more bags than the average traveler, and they are often larger than usual. Baskas notes that the airport "purchased extra-large trolleys to help move luggage through the airport" to deal with this issue. In addition, having so many passengers will certainly mean there are more travelers seeking assistance. And of course, since the Games are a global event, there will be many international passengers. So, the airport is beefing up staffing levels at customer service desks, and will also be using a new translation service to help aid international travelers.

If you happen to be traveling through Vancouver during the Olympics, the airport has set up a website with some travel tips, such as trying a new rapid transit line that connects the airport directly to downtown Vancouver.

Meanwhile, the Rick Mercer Report on CBC looked into the airport's preparations for the games and shares an informative and humorous backstage tour.

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