Transportation Hub

Greater Victoria has a choice of transportation options, making travel between this region and virtually any destination in the world easy and convenient. In addition to having the ninth busiest airport in Canada, Greater Victoria boasts one of the largest concentrations of sea planes and ferries in North America. Buses and helicopters add more options. And the travel time is short: Vancouver and Seattle are less than half an hour from Greater Victoria by air.

Victoria International Airport links the region with major North American centres, including Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary, Las Vegas, Seattle, and San Francisco. Destinations continue to be added and total aircraft movement (local and itinerant) for 2009 has grown to 165,509. Plans are in place for a 1,400-foot extension to the principal runway, allowing non-stop service to Europe in the future.

Since 2003, Victoria International Airport has shown steady growth each year in the number of passengers; from 1,182,281 passengers in 2003 to 1,532,889 in 2009. An increase in the number of passengers annually through 2025 to a projected number of 2.3 million passengers is anticipated.

Downtown sea plane and helicopter services operate between centres in the Pacific Northwest. Downtown Victoria to downtown Vancouver float plane service is a popular choice for the many public and private sector employees who travel regularly between the two cities. Flights are available hourly.

Numerous ferry options are available between Greater Victoria and mainland points. In fact, there are more than 100 crossings per day to and from Vancouver Island and the mainland: Vancouver, Seattle, Port Angeles, and Anacortes. BC Ferries transports more than 21 million passengers each year between the island and the mainland. The vessels that sail to the mainland carry up to 370 vehicles, including cars, trucks, and semi-trailers, as well as 1,650 passengers. The newest ships are the largest double-ended ferries in the world.

Commercial aircraft movements have been increasing at both Victoria Harbour and Victoria International Airport. The most recent figures available show a growth of 22 per cent and three per cent respectively between 2003 and 2007. Traffic through the harbour is primarily domestic (99 per cent), with a small trans-border component. At the international airport, 92 per cent of traffic is domestic, followed by trans-border at seven per cent and non-U.S. international destinations at one per cent.

See more information in our latest newsletter.