An investigation of air cargo operations at the Vancouver International Airport

Described in this thesis is a summary of the methodology and results of a project conducted in the area of air cargo operations at the Vancouver International Airport (YVR). The objective of this project was to assist the Vancouver Airport Authority in understanding the operational requirements of air cargo transportation—an understanding required to achieve their strategic goals with respect to cargo transportation at YVR. The first phase of the project involved developing end-to-end process maps of all key cargo processes. This was done through interviews and site visits with cargo agents servicing YVR. Through information gathered in the process mapping phase and brainstorming sessions with Airport Authority management, key cargo resources were identified for detailed investigation. The resources chosen were the network of flights servicing YVR and dedicated airside storage space for transhipment cargo. The final phases of the project involved the detailed analyses of these resources. The YVR Flight Network Cargo Capacity Analysis quantifies the useful cargo carrying capacity of the YVR flight network for the year 2000 at 550,000 tonnes. This analysis is used to improve the understanding of how additional flight services increase the ability for YVR to transport cargo. This information can assist the Airport Authority in evaluating what changes in the flight network would be required to reach the strategic goal of doubling YVR air cargo transportation by 2010. The purpose of the Transhipment Cargo Facility Analysis was to give recommendation to the Airport Authority with respect to the necessity and potential value of developing an airside transhipment cargo facility at YVR. Information was synthesized from surveys sent to cargo agents servicing YVR, survey follow-up interviews, airside operations observations, and sample data collected describing the arrival and dwell time of transhipment cargo at YVR. The analysis presented concludes that a transhipment cargo staging would be beneficial to cargo agents at YVR. The benefit of reduced damage and spoilage of cargo is offset by the opportunity cost of the space.Business, Sauder School ofGraduat