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YVR Named Best Airport In North America E
very year, Skytrax, a United Kingdom-based consultancy, conducts research for commercial airlines. It carries out international traveller surveys to find the best cabin staff, airport, airline, airline lounge, in-flight entertainment, on board catering and several other elements of air travel. The organization is best known for their annual World Airport Awards and World Airline Awards. This year’s survey of airports was based on more than 7.8-million detailed passenger surveys, covering more than 170 airports, and conducted over an 11-month period throughout the world. Vancouver was named Best Airport North America, in 8th place worldwide, and was the only North American airport to feature in the top-10 world airport rankings. “We congratulate the award-winning airports, whose standards of customer service have received a very clear vote of passenger confidence and satisfaction,” said Edward Plaisted, Skytrax CEO. Top of passenger priorities in this survey were general ease of airport
usage and waiting times. “Travellers expect security processing to incur some delays, but are disappointed— often annoyed—if the security facilities are inadequate,” said Plaisted. “Waiting in line for 30 minutes to find only half the available security scanners open was a frequently stated complaint.” Final passenger judging covered more than 40 categories of product and service quality—items such as terminal cleanliness, staff efficiency and courtesy, terminal signage and walking distances, as well as features like shopping, dining options, internet services. Security processing and immigration
WORLD AIRPORT RANKINGS 2007 2006 1 Hong Kong Int’l Airport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Seoul Incheon Airport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Singapore Changi Airport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Munich Airport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Kuala Lumpur Int’l Airport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Zurich Airport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Amsterdam Schiphol Airport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Vancouver Int’l Airport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Kansai Int’l Airport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Madrid Barajas Airport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Air New Zealand will launch non-stop flights between YVR and Auckland, New Zealand beginning November 2. The new route reduces travel time to a little over 14 hours, whereas previous itineraries from Vancouver to New Zealand totalled an average of around 20 hours.
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awrence Cannon, Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, and the David Emerson, Minister of International Trade, have announced an Open Skies air transport agreement between Canada and New Zealand. “I am pleased with the new air transport agreement with New Zealand, which is in line with Canada’s Blue Sky international air transportation policy,” said Minister Cannon. “This agreement marks another step forward in providing a greater range of options for Canadian travellers, shippers and businesses.” The new agreement allows any number of air carriers from either country to operate passenger and all-cargo scheduled air services as frequently as desired, to and from any point in either country’s See BLUE SKY AGREEMENT, page
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WORLD AIRLINE RANKINGS 2007 2006 1 Singapore Airlines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Thai Airways . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Cathay Pacific . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Qatar Airways . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Qantas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Malaysia Airlines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Air New Zealand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 China Airlines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Emirates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 British Airways . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Canada Reaches CATSA To Travellers: Blue Sky Agreement Leave Liquids, Gels And With New Zealand Aerosols Behind
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he Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA) is renewing an appeal to air travellers one year after Canada adopted restrictions on liquids, gels and aerosols. According to CATSA officials, in spite of the year-old regulations, numerous air travellers continue to arrive at the pre-board screening checkpoint with over-sized quantities of bottled water, perfume, shampoo, hair gel and other toiletries. “It takes just a minute quantity of liquid explosives to destroy an aircraft and disrupt the aviation system,” said Jacques Duchesneau, CATSA president and chief executive officer. “We urge travellers to be vigilant and make a conscious effort to ensure that threats are kept off passenger planes.” Across the country, screening officers intercept more than 850,000 liquids, gels and aerosols every week. The staggering amount translates into delays at the security-screening checkpoint, as passengers have to unpack and dispose of the items. Regulations For carry-on items, liquids, gels and aerosols must be placed in containers with a maximum capacity of 100 millitres. These containers must be placed in a clear, re-sealable plastic bag with a capacity of no more than one litre. One bag per passenger is permitted. For more information about the regulations and other packing tips, please visit www.catsa.gc.ca or call CATSA at 1-888-294-2202.
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waiting times were also a constituent factor of the survey. “While business travellers’ look for speed and maximum time utilization in the airport, it is leisure passengers that tend to make more use of, and enjoy an airport’s facilities,” said Plaisted. “These are the people who notice how clean the washrooms are, how much seating is available, what prices are charged at food and beverage outlets, and how helpful the airport staff are.” Airline Survey “The 2006/7 World Airline Survey was our longest running and largest passenger survey ever,” said Plaisted. “We received more than 14-million eligible nominations around the world dur-
ing the 11-month survey, further underlining the project’s title of being the World’s Largest Passenger Survey.” For the second time in the history of the World Airline Awards, Singapore Airlines emerged as overall winner. In addition to the overall title, the airline also was named Best Business Class. In the survey’s regional results, Air Canada was named Best Airline North America. “As with the majority of the survey studies we conduct, the World Airline Survey is primarily focused on the quality attributes that different airlines offer—be it in the airport or the onboard environment,” said Plaisted. “Of course, in making a nomination for a Best Airline based on the standards of product and service, the survey participants will pay due regard to the value-for-money equation, but we do not set out to evaluate which airlines might have the largest network or most frequent schedules. It is all about quality, and how the customer rates one airline against another.”
Duty Free Shopping At YVR Reaches New Heights With Aldeasa
Travel retail expert brings exclusive brands and great savings
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assengers on international flights departing Vancouver International Airport can enjoy an unprecedented array of duty free selections from YVR’s new duty free partner, Spanish travel retail expert Aldeasa. Aldeasa’s 13 duty free shops, the majority of which can be found in the new International Terminal wing, cover some 4,000 square metres and offer selections to rival any upscale shopping centre, at up to 40 per cent savings for YVR travellers. A full range of luxury brands including Cartier, Bvlgari, Montblanc, Hugo Boss, Burberry, Escada and Hermès are available, as are fashion-forward designs from Western Canada’s very first MANGO clothing boutique. The latest cosmetics and fragrance products are on offer at Beauty See DUTY FREE,
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