Vancouver international airport

Vancouver International Airport (IATA: YVR, ICAO: CYVR) is located on Sea Island in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada, about 12 km (7.5 mi) from Downtown Vancouver. In 2011 it was the second busiest airport in Canada by aircraft movements (296,942) and passengers (17.0 million), behind Toronto Pearson International Airport, with non-stop flights daily to Asia, Europe, Oceania, the United States, and Mexico, and other airports within Canada. The airport has won several notable international best airport awards; it won the Skytrax Best North American Airport award in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 the second, third, fourth and fifth time respectively it has received the honour (the first was in 2007). It is the only North American Airport included in the top 10 for 2013. YVR also retains the distinction of Best Canadian Airport in the regional results.

It is a hub for Air Canada, Air Canada Express and Air Transat as well as a focus city for WestJet. Vancouver International Airport is one of eight Canadian airports that have US Border Preclearance facilities. Vancouver International Airport (YVR) has been named, "The Best Airport in North America". The airport also made the list of top 10 airports in the world, rated at 9th overall, for the first time in 2012. In 2013 it is rated 8th overall worldwide. It is also one of the few big international airports to have a terminal for scheduled floatplanes.

Vancouver International Airport is owned by Transport Canada and is managed by Vancouver Airport Authority, which also manages other airports around the world through its Vancouver Airport Services subsidiary.

Gateway

Due to its proximity to Asia in relation to the rest of Canada, as well as the large Asian population and Canadian-Asian business connections in the region, Vancouver International Airport is the major gateway between Canada and Asia. It has more transpacific flights than any other airport in Canada.
On March 1, 2010 the day after the conclusion of the 2010 Winter Olympics, the airport was expected to set a record for daily traffic, with an estimated increase of 39,000 departing passengers, in addition to the 2009 daily average of 22,000 arrivals.

Terminals

Vancouver International Airport has three terminals:

• the Domestic Terminal, which was constructed in 1968 by Vancouver, BC based firm Thompson, Berwick and Pratt and recently given a top-to-bottom renovation by Vancouver architect Kasian Kennedy

• the International Terminal, which includes a US Preclearance Annex for US-bound flights, was built by Chicago-based Architectura with Kansas CIty-based HNTB Corporation (1994-96)

• the South Terminal, which is a portion of the original terminal that is still in use. This is considered to include the floatplane terminal.

The International and Domestic terminals could be considered to be one very large building divided into two sections, while the South terminal is located in a remote part of the airport. The South Terminal serves regional airlines which fly mostly within British Columbia. The International Terminal serves international destinations, with most US-bound flights utilising the US Border Preclearance facilities in the International Terminal.

The South Terminal houses the corporate headquarters of Pacific Coastal Airlines.
YVR is one of eight Canadian airports that has United States border preclearance facilities. The International terminal utilizes glass partitions to physically separate US-bound passengers from others from customs through to boarding. As a result, not all airport retail shops are available to all passengers.
Free high speed Wi-Fi internet access is available in the International and Domestic Terminals.
 ^{Car Rentals}

Car Rental Companies

Car rental facilities are conveniently located just steps from the terminal on the ground floor of the parkade. Companies operating their vehicle pickup and return services directly from these facilities include:

• National /Alamo
• Avis 
• Budget 
• Hertz 
• Dollar/Thrifty 

Off-site Car Rental Company

Off-site car rental company close to the airport: 

• Enterprise Rent-a-Car

A direct dialed phone for Enterprise car rental shuttles is located at the car rental bus shelter in the Economy Parking Lot.

Accessible Car Rentals

Accessible car rentals are available at YVR. Please ensure you give your rental company 48 hours advanced notice to ensure availability.

Vancouver

Vancouver  is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. The 2011 census recorded 603,502 people in the city, making it the eighth largest Canadian municipality.
 The metropolitan area, with more than 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country and the most populous in Western Canada. With 5,249 people per square kilometre (13,590 per square mile), the City of Vancouver is the most densely populated Canadian municipality among those with 5,000 residents or more. Vancouver is one of the most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities in Canada; 52% of its residents do not speak English as their first language.

The original settlement, named Gastown, grew around the Hastings Mill logging sawmill and a nearby tavern, both established in 1867. Enlarging to become the townsite of Granville, with the announcement that the railhead would reach the site it was renamed "Vancouver" and incorporated as a city in 1886. By 1887, the transcontinental railway was extended to the city to take advantage of its large natural seaport, which soon became a vital link in a trade route between the Orient, Eastern Canada, and London. As of 2009, Port Metro Vancouver is the busiest and largest port in Canada, and the most diversified port in North America. While forestry remains its largest industry, Vancouver is well known as an urban centre surrounded by nature, making tourism its second-largest industry. Major film production studios in Vancouver and Burnaby have turned Metro Vancouver into one of the largest film production centres in North America, earning it the film industry nickname, Hollywood North.

For more than a decade, business magazine assessments have ranked Vancouver as one of the most "livable cities" worldwide, and the Economist Intelligence Unit acknowledged it as the first city to rank among the top-ten of the  for five consecutive years. Vancouver has hosted many international conferences and events, including the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games, UN Habitat I, Expo 86, and the World Police and Fire Games in 1989 and 2009. The 2010 Winter Olympics and 2010 Winter Paralympics were held in Vancouver and nearby Whistler, a resort community 125 km (78 mi) north of the city.