The Victoria International Airport (YYJ) has made two big announcements this week that will shape the future of the airport.
The first announcement made by YYJ is that they will be closing the third floor ‘Eagles Landing’ observation lounge.
YYJ says the reason for the lounge’s closure is that they require the space to accommodate airport authority staff.
“As we are growing, we’ve run out of office and administration space,” said Rod Hunchak, YYJ’s Senior Director, Business Development and Community Relations.
“We totally understand that the space was enjoyed by the public and we did explore other opportunities, but unfortunately, we were left with very few options available on how to deal with our space issues for the short term.”
Hunchak added that it is possible for the Eagles Landing observation lounge to return as the terminal expansion process moves forward, but this is not a certainty.
“We are exploring possible terminal expansion options for the future and while Eagles Landing may or may not return as a dedicated public observation space, there may be opportunities to introduce new public viewing spaces which will be considered in the design process,” Hunchak concluded.
The Eagles Landing lounge featured local Indigenous art, seating and floor to ceiling windows for people to watch planes land and take off.
It also included a historic exhibit which told the region’s story through the lens of local First Nations.
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In their second announcement, YYJ revealed that they are partnering with a new food and beverage coordinator, SSP Canada.
Soon, SSP will take over the oversight of three vendors in the airport, Spinnakers On The Fly, Fresh Cup Café & Bar and Tim Hortons.
YYJ noted that The Fickle Fig Farm Market will continue to operate independently in the pre-security area.
“We are confident that this change will benefit not only the 5,000 travellers Victoria International Airport welcomes every day but also many airport employees and the public,” said Elizabeth Brown, President and CEO, Victoria Airport Authority.
“YYJ’s concession program has always focused on highlighting local brands and products representing the best Vancouver Island has to offer, and we’re excited to have a leader in airport food and beverage concessions like SSP to help raise our food and beverage program to the next level.”
YYJ added that with this change, the airport is exploring new options for future terminal expansion that could introduce new food vendors, both before and after security.
Nothing will change with the current vendors immediately, according to SSP. They say that their first priority will simply be to ensure they’re serving passengers with consistent hours of operations, quality food and beverage and heartfelt service.
After they have settled in, SSP say they will start to think through refining the brand lineup, meaning exploring the possibility of making changes to the current airport vendors.
