Roberta Aguirre
Victoria International Airport, located 12 nautical miles north-northwest of Victoria on the Saanich Peninsula, is identified by the code YYJ. The airport is run by the Victoria Airport Authority, which has trademarked the three-letter code. While the exact origin of the YYJ code is unclear, it may be derived from the name of the airport's NDB or VOR navigation aid, following a similar pattern to other airport codes in Canada.
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What You'll Learn
- YYJ is the International Air Transport Association airport code for Victoria International Airport
- The airport's full name is Victoria International Airport (IATA: YYJ, ICAO: CYYJ)
- The YJ may come from the name of the NDB located in Victoria
- The airport is also known as the Pat Bay Airport
- The airport served 1,872,033 passengers in 2024, making it Canada's 11th busiest airport
YYJ is the International Air Transport Association airport code for Victoria International Airport
The airport is run by the Victoria Airport Authority, which has trademarked YYJ. The airport code is used in various places, including on the airport's website and on social media platforms like Twitter.
The origin of the airport code YYJ is unclear. One theory suggests that the YJ comes from the name of the NDB located in Victoria, which was used for weather reporting and navigation. In the 1930s, Canada used a two-letter code for weather reporting stations, with a "Y" preceding the code when the station was co-located with an airport.
YYJ serves many non-stop daily flights to Vancouver International Airport (YVR), Seattle (SEA), and several cities within Canada. It also offers seasonal flights to Mexican resort destinations.
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The airport's full name is Victoria International Airport (IATA: YYJ, ICAO: CYYJ)
YYJ has many non-stop daily flights to Vancouver International Airport (YVR), which is a major airport serving many global routes. Additionally, Victoria International has non-stop service to Seattle (SEA), and national service to Ottawa (YOW), Toronto (YYZ), Montreal (YUL, summer only), Calgary (YYC), Edmonton (YEG), and several smaller cities in British Columbia and Yukon. The airport also has seasonal (late fall to early spring) non-stop service to several Mexican resort destinations.
In 2024, YYJ served 1,872,033 passengers and had 95,615 aircraft movements, making it Canada's 11th busiest airport in terms of passengers. It was British Columbia's third busiest airport in terms of passengers and aircraft movements. The airport is also home to Arundel Castle, the operating base for 443 Maritime Helicopter Squadron of the Royal Canadian Air Force.
The YYJ designation is the International Air Transport Association airport code for Victoria. The Victoria Airport Authority has trademarked YYJ to ensure the three letters are used for good rather than evil. The YJ part of the code comes from the name of the NDB located in Victoria. In the 1930s, Canada used a two-letter code for weather reporting stations, with a Y placed before the code if the reporting station was co-located with an airport.
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The YJ may come from the name of the NDB located in Victoria
The YJ in YYJ, the International Air Transport Association airport code for Victoria International Airport, may come from the name of the NDB located in Victoria. NDB stands for Non-Directional Beacon, a ground-based, low-frequency radio transmitter used as an instrument approach for airports and offshore platforms. In the 1930s, Canada used two letters for the identification of a weather reporting station. When the reporting station was co-located with an airport, a 'Y' for 'yes' was placed before the two-letter code.
The YJ would likely be the identifier for an older weather or navigation station. It is possible that the airport code was derived from this, as there is a clear relationship between airport codes and NDBs in other Canadian cities. For example, Abbotsford International Airport is YXX, and Abbotsford's NDB is XX.
The NDB transmits an omnidirectional signal that is received by the ADF (Automatic Direction Finder), a standard instrument onboard aircraft. The pilot uses the ADF to determine the direction to the NDB relative to the aircraft. NDBs are highly reliable, typically providing decades of uninterrupted service, and are extremely low cost to install and operate. Because of this, NDBs are the most widely used navigation aid in the world.
In addition to serving as stand-alone primary instrument approaches at airports, NDBs are also used as Locator Outer Markers (LOM) for Instrument Landing Systems (ILS). They are used to determine the airplane's position along the course being flown.
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The airport is also known as the Pat Bay Airport
Victoria International Airport, also known as the Victoria Airport, is located 12 nautical miles (22 km; 14 mi) north-northwest of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. The airport is situated on the Saanich Peninsula, with the majority of its facilities, including the passenger terminal, found in North Saanich. The airport is named YYJ by the International Air Transport Association, and this has been trademarked by the Victoria Airport Authority.
The origin of the YYJ designation is unclear, but it is speculated that the YJ part comes from the name or identifier of a weather reporting station or NDB (a type of navigation aid) located in Victoria. In the 1930s, Canada used a two-letter code for weather reporting stations, with a "Y" prefix indicating that the station was co-located with an airport.
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The airport served 1,872,033 passengers in 2024, making it Canada's 11th busiest airport
Victoria International Airport, located 12 nautical miles (22 km or 14 miles) north-northwest of Victoria on the Saanich Peninsula, served 1,872,033 passengers in 2024. This made it Canada's 11th busiest airport in terms of passenger count. It was also British Columbia's third busiest airport in terms of both passenger count and aircraft movements.
The airport's IATA code is YYJ, which is the International Air Transport Association airport code for Victoria. The YJ part of the code is thought to come from the name of the NDB located in Victoria. In the 1930s, Canada used a two-letter code for weather reporting stations, with a Y placed before the code if the reporting station was co-located with an airport.
The airport has seen various developments over the years, including the renovation and expansion of its terminal in 2000, the rebuilding of the airside hold room and arrivals rotunda in 2002, and the completion of a new departures area in 2005. In 2015, 443 Maritime Helicopter Squadron moved into a new $155 million heliport at the airport, named Arundel Castle. The Victoria International Airport Master Plan 2023-2024 outlines future infrastructure growth for the airport, including the extension of Runway 09-27 to provide a greater safety buffer for long-haul flights.
The number of passengers served by Victoria International Airport in 2024 reflects a recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, which significantly impacted air travel. Other airports, such as St. John's International Airport, have also seen passenger numbers return to pre-pandemic levels. However, some airports like Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) have struggled to rebound, experiencing a drop in domestic travel and a decline in their ranking of the world's busiest airports.
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Frequently asked questions
YYJ is the International Air Transport Association airport code for Victoria International Airport. The YJ comes from the name of the NDB located in Victoria, which was a weather reporting station.
YYJ stands for the International Air Transport Association airport code for Victoria International Airport.
In the 1930s, Canada used two letters for the identification of a weather reporting station. A "Y" was placed before the two-letter code to indicate that the reporting station was co-located with an airport. Therefore, the weather station was YJ, and when they built an airport on it, it became YYJ.
