RICHMOND, B.C. — Vancouver International Airport will raise its improvement fees from $20 to $25 starting in January.
Airport CEO Craig Richmond says the money will be used to meet future growth.
The fee is charged to all travellers flying outside of B.C. and the airport says it will continue to offer the discounted $5 rate for those flying within the province and Yukon.
The charge was originally described as a temporary user fee when it was was introduced in 1993 and has collected over $2.2 billion to pay for capital infrastructure projects like runways and expanded terminals.
The airport says its fee is in line or less expensive than those charged at eight other Canadian major airports.
It says only Ottawa will be collecting a lower fee at $23.
The airport says it receives no federal government funding to operate and the improvement fee last year made up about 31 per cent of its revenue.