It’s a bird, it’s a plane. It’s …
Well, it’s a plane. And luckily for aviation enthusiasts, there plenty of them to see going in and out of Vancouver International Airport each year. According to YVR, last year there were 278,000 take-offs and landings from the Sea Island terminals. That’s an awful lot of aircraft to see. But where are the best spots in Richmond to get a view?
Those old enough will remember trips to the old Pop Shoppe on No. 3 Road near Cambie Road where, after you filled up your red crates with bottles of assorted fizzy drinks and walked back to your car, you could count on getting a great underbelly view of planes as they roared overhead.
For those more interested in seeing other views of passing planes, top of the list is the aptly named Larry Berg Flight Path Park on Russ Baker Way. That will give you an almost head-on view of aircraft taking off and landing on the south runway (26L).
The small park has a large, “sunken” globe to symbolize the airport’s global connections.
Picnic benches make it an ideal stop for families who want to see plenty of air traffic in action.
If you want to see close, airside operations of planes on the ground, and those taking off and landing in the distance, YVR has a public observation area inside the domestic terminal. Visitors are given a wall of glass view westward and there are complimentary telescopes to zoom in on the action.
Access is free, but you will still need to pay for parking if you have taken your car to the airport.
If you’ve paid for one of the rooms at the Fairmont Vancouver Airport hotel, views of aircraft taking off and landing are apparently stunning, according to FlightlineAviationMedia.com, an online aviation photography website.
And for views when the north runway (26R) is in use, there is a place along Ferguson Road near the north west corner of Sea Island that many plane spotters focus their camera lenses.
