YVR: The development of Vancouver international airport as an air gateway to North America

When the completed transcontinental Canadian Pacific railroad reached its western terminus at Vancouver in 1884, a major international trade route was established. Steamships soon began crossing the Pacific with cargoes of wheat and lumber and the city became Canada's gateway to the Pacific. With the advent of the age of air travel–despite the relatively modest beginnings of its international airport–the city in turn became the country's aviation gateway. In recent years, however, Vancouver International Airport has set its sights toward even more lofty goals. This article traces the development of the airport, and how a combination of factors including a favorable geographical location, an air treaty between the United States and Canada, and the resurrection of a near-bankrupt airline through partnership with a major American air carrier, are helping its ambitions to be a gateway to North America. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.