Vancouver International opened in 1931 on Sea Island in the Fraser River delta, after civic leaders, reportedly spurred by Charles Lindbergh's refusal to visit a city without a proper airport, resolved to build one. The federal government ran the field through the war years, when it doubled as a training and patrol base. Postwar growth brought transpacific ambitions, a new terminal in 1968, and Vancouver's rise as Canada's western gateway.
Local control returned in 1992 when the Vancouver Airport Authority took over, launching the expansion that defined the modern airport: the 1996 international terminal filled with Pacific Northwest Coast Indigenous art, including Bill Reid's celebrated bronze The Spirit of Haida Gwaii, the Jade Canoe. The Canada Line rapid transit link opened in 2009 for the Vancouver Winter Olympics, connecting the terminals to downtown in under half an hour.
YVR built a reputation as North America's premier transpacific transfer point, with Air Canada operating a major hub and Asian carriers clustering here, and Skytrax has named it the best airport in North America a record number of consecutive times. Expansion continued with Pier D opening in 2021.