Just four months into 2016, Vancouver International Airport / Aéroport international de Vancouver (YVR) is already celebrating seven significant aviation industry awards. The accolades have come from a variety of industry bodies and cover a wide spectrum of airport programs, including retail concession, marketing, human resources and environment.
In March, YVR was named Best Airport in North America for an unprecedented seventh consecutive year at the Skytrax World Airport Awards. The Skytrax awards are based on 13.2 million passenger surveys conducted in 555 airports around the world. Other 2016 awards have come from Airports Council International – North America (ACI-NA), Airport Revenue News, and Routes.
“What makes us so proud of this slate of awards is that the recognition is from a broad cross-section of stakeholders, including passengers, industry experts, and airline partners,” said Craig Richmond, President and CEO, Vancouver Airport Authority. “It tells us we are doing something right. Hats off to everyone who works or volunteers at YVR. Your hard work makes it possible for us to achieve this success together.”
In addition to the Best Airport in North America recognition, YVR has received 2016 awards in the following areas:
Environment
In February, YVR’s Waste Wars initiative won top prize in the Outreach, Education and Community Involvement Category of ACI-NA’s Environmental Achievement Awards. Waste Wars was a one-month competition between YVR food and beverage tenants to see who could properly dispose of the most waste. The project generated the best waste diversion rate of the year and moved YVR towards its goal of 50 per cent waste diversion from landfills by 2020.
Retail Concession
YVR’s retail concession program was lauded at the Airport Revenue News Airport & Concession Awards in March. YVR won both Best Concession Program Design and Best Customer Service in the medium-sized airport category.
The retail concession honours continued at last week’s ACI-NA Concession Awards. YVR won Best Specialty Retail Program in the medium airport category for its A-B Connector retail program.
Human Resources
Airports Council International’s (ACI-NA) chose the Vancouver Airport Authority as the Overall Human Resources Program Winner in their 2016 Excellence in Human Resources Recognition Program. The award recognizes the Airport Authority’s commitment to creating innovative programs that support employees through their careers. These programs include Leadership and Capability Development, Rewards and Recognition, Wellness and Shared Performance Pay.
Marketing
YVR was also the winner of the Routes Marketing Awards in the 4 to 20 million-passenger category. The Routes Marketing Awards recognizes excellence in airport marketing as voted by the airlines.