Happy 89th Birthday, YVR Airport
byWhen you’re used to visiting a place about 20 times a year (more than, in my case, my hair stylist) you form a connection. When that place represents adventure, experiences, family, and homecomings, that bond becomes stronger. I have missed being at the YVR this year (because of what that represents) so I would like to give the Best Airport in the World – with the best airport social media team in the world – a shout out for a very Happy 89th Birthday with an archive photo roundup.
Happy 89th Birthday, YVR Airport
“Vancouver’s original airport was a 16-hectare piece of land south of what is now Alexandra Road leased to the city. Planning began for a new airport began in 1928, with Sea Island selected as the site, a decision made by Vancouver Mayor W.H. Malkin and the Vancouver Board of Trade.” [Source]
On July 22, 1931 the Vancouver Airport and Seaplane Harbour at Sea Island was officially opened.
Today, you can visit the YVR South Terminal Viewing Platform for a similar perspective to what aviation fans and visitors would have had in 1931.
From The History of Metropolitan Vancouver by Chuck Davis: “One story tells of how William Templeton, the airport’s first manager, saved thousands of dollars by laughingly declining the services of an American airport design firm and doing the job himself for about $14. One reminder of his 1931 work: Cowley Crescent, which circled the first terminal: Templeton laid a light bulb down on the plans and traced around it with a pencil. That’s why Cowley, still there today, looks the way it does.”
A timeline of other milestones can be found in this video which was made for the airport’s 80th anniversary:
From judging a paper airplane contest at the Observation Deck, to wandering its green space outside, to a staycation at the hotel and its amazing collection of art, YVR is a destination in and of itself. Oh, and I’ll never forget Santa pretending to lightsaber Darth Vader on the tarmac (for a good cause).
