The calmness of this airport will leave you relaxed

The airport

Victoria International Airport (YYJ) on Canada’s Vancouver Island.

Metallic and low-slung: Victoria International Airport.

The flight

Air Canada AC8154 to Vancouver.

The arrival

With YYJ 25 kilometres from the city centre, near the tip of the Saanich Peninsula, I spend longer in the taxi than I will in the plane for one of the world’s shortest flights – just 12 minutes across to Vancouver. The taxi fare is about $65, with an Uber, which arrived in Victoria only in June 2023, costing around $55. The airport’s shuttle service ceased operation at the end of 2022.

The look

The terminal is low-slung and metallic, with an entire front wall of glass, though most of its beauty comes from the maples and flowers lining its exterior walls. I enter the terminal beneath colourful, 10-metre-high sculptures of poppies that rise like small satellite dishes (exiting passengers head out past a trio of totem poles). Inside the terminal there’s a permanent and rotating collection of artworks loaned from the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, all available for purchase by use of QR codes.

Check-in

I’ve checked in online, and it’s a painless procedure at the airport. Self-service machines spit out bag tags, and bag drop takes moments, though my attempt to use digital ticketing is thwarted when check-in staff insist on printing a boarding pass anyway because the gate scanners often have difficulty with phone passes. If you’re forced to wait around to check-in, this isn’t an airport that punishes you for the inconvenience, with around 30 plush armchairs dotted about the area.

The airport has a relaxed vibe.

Security

Screens around the terminal tell of the wait times at security, which is supposedly 15 to 20 minutes this day. There’s a long snaking line of passengers, though there’s a sense of island time to the procedure, with no harry or hurry among security staff. It ends up being 30 minutes before I’m through the scanners.

Food + drink

There are no full-kitchen restaurants at YYJ – this is a place to snack rather than dine. Before security is the Canadian fast-food favourite of Tim Hortons, side by side with coffee and baked goods at the Fickle Fig. Past security is Spinnakers, an offshoot of a Victoria brewpub, with a bar pouring from 12 taps. The small Fresh Cup stand pours locally roasted coffee (and local beer and wine from 9am) but the wait is about the same as that at security.

Retail therapy

Harbour Walk: last chance for a souvenir.

Harbour Walk, immediately beyond security, is a last-chance saloon for those souvenir hoodies, caps, mugs and water bottles, but the most interesting stop is Victoria Distillers, selling (and sampling) its range of Empress 1908 gin. A quick nip before a morning flight?

Passing time

Finding YYJ’s art collection is an airport treasure hunt, with works sprinkled and spread around the terminal. From the dining area behind Tom Hortons, I take the lift to the third-level Eagles Landing Observation Lounge, which provides an elevated view over most of the bays and runways, with First Nations art from master carvers and weavers around its walls, along with a display on the airport’s history. This day, the lounge is empty even as the rest of the airport swarms with people, so I linger, enjoying this pocket of peace.

The verdict

YYJ has a calmness beyond most airports, which is an asset in most regards, except security. Build in time for some slow movement and this is as relaxed as you’ll ever climb on a plane.

Our rating out of five

★★★½

Andrew Bain travelled as a guest of Destination British Columbia (hellobc.com) and Destination Greater Victoria (tourismvictoria.com) .