Vancouver International Airport Observation Area, Richmond

Located above the domestic terminal in the Vancouver International Airport on Sea Island near Richmond, British Columbia, the Observation Area lets visitors to the airport watch planes taking off and landing, going to the terminals as well as the runways beyond the terminals and the Cascade Mountains in the distance. CREDIT: Venture Vancouver, SOURCE: www.venturevancouver.com

The Observation Area at the Vancouver International Airport offers views to the domestic terminal as well as the runways and cascade mountains in the distance.

STATS

Type:

View

Season:

All Seasons

Weather:

All Weather

Time:

30 minutes

Cost:

Free

What to bring:

Camera, Binoculars, Sense of Curiosity

Located on the top floor of the Vancouver International Airport the Observation Area is a place for curious visitors to British Columbia's largest airport to marvel at the terminals below as well as its many runways and the beautiful natural setting of British Columbia behind. Viewers can also use the binoculars provided, read the information boards and interact with the computer kiosks and the scale model to learn more about this busy locale.

Opened in the summer of 2009, the Observation Deck at the Vancouver International Airport offers a top level view of the domestic terminals below and the runways across the flat terrain. On beautiful days visitors can even glimpse the Cascade Mountains in the distance. The aim of the Observation Deck is to teach visitors about the airport, its functions, its history and offers an unparallelled view.

Visitors of all ages can ascend to the Observation Area which sits three stories above ground level. The deck encompasses tables and chairs for airport employees and visitors to eat at and floor to ceiling windows to watch planes taking off or landing or just to enjoy the beautiful views. The Observation Area has many information boards about the different functions in the airport as well as cutouts of different airplanes to help identify them, a scale model of Sea Island on which the Vancouver International Airport is built upon and interactive computers.

One of the most interesting additions to the Observation Area are the binoculars placed at different heights for both adults and children to look through. Visitors can spot baggage being loaded on planes, landing planes or even shipping vessels making their way to English Bay to wait to be unloaded. Lucky viewers can spot birds of prey which are trained to chase birds away from runways.

The Vancouver International Airport Observation Area is a fun interactive and interesting place to learn about the airport, hang out while waiting for someone to arrive or to depart on your own trip, or just to relax and watch the daily operations of this world class locale in action.