Originally Posted by
spin88
Actually Vancouver proper is 603K (2012 figure), Seattle proper is 640K (2014 figure).
Greater Vancouver is about 2.4M (which just includes the areas immediately south and north of Vancouver), while greater Seattle (the Seattle/Bellevue/Tacoma MSA) was 3.6M in 2013.
However, B.C. is 4.61M people (2014 figure) and nearly all of that extra population will fly from YVR, while much of the remainder of Washington's population (of 7M) will not fly from SEA (they fly from PDX or Spokane) and for some of Washington's population (Everett and to the North) flying from YVR is probably easier.
Bottom line (1) I think the O/D market from YVR is actually slightly larger than that at SEA, and (2) without the crazy visa rules you see in the US, YVR gets a lot more tourist traffic than does SEA.
Thanks for digging up the poop on pop. I knew someone would squirrel out the exact #s, but you also need to take into account wealth differences. There is more money floating around the Seattle metro area than Vancouver. And the wealth difference is even larger for BC vs WA once you leave the major metro area. People from Prince Rupert and Cranbrook aren't making as many intercontinental flights as their counterparts from Olympia and Spokane, regardless of which gateway they use.
And Seattle passed Vancouver in departing cruise passengers a few years ago - a sign of the tourism shift south of the border - which may have been driven by the high loonie, and may thus swing back as the Arctic Peso makes its reappearance.
