Although small, you’ll find plenty of things to do at 6 am at Victoria Airport. From writing letters to war veterans to taking a jog around the airport track, you definitely won’t be bored at YYJ. You know what they say after all: good things come in small packages! (They must’ve been talking about this airport, right?)
During our springtime stop on our favorite West Coast island, we found out that there are many things to do at 6 am at Victoria Airport besides just sitting around waiting for your flight (so last year). Check ’em out.
Five things to do at 6 am at Victoria Airport
1. Write a letter to a war veteran.
Currently, Victoria sculptor Illarion Gallant is working on a sculpture at Hospital Hill called “The Lost Airmen of the Empire” to honour the airmen who gave their lives during the Second World War at Patricia Bay Air Station on Vancouver Island. The central seating area of the sculpture will have a time capsule where people can place their sealed letters they’ve written to the veterans. There are a couple of ways you can submit a letter:
By email to [email protected] or by snail mail to Victoria Airport Authority 201-1640 Electra Blvd. Sidney BC, V8L 5V4 – Mark the envelope with Hospital Hill Commemorative Memorial Capsule. (Letters won’t be opened.)
2. Go for a morning jog around the flight path.
YYJ has a fantastic 9.3km track that runs the entire length around the airport grounds. Passengers are welcome to bike, walk and jog (or maybe even skip if you’re feeling super energetic at 6 am at Victoria Airport) around the track to enjoy the natural beauty of the area before checking in for your flight.
There are many other ways you can get some fitness on the fly at airports. Check out our list of airport pools, airport gyms, and yoga rooms to explore.
3. Perk up with a morning coffee.
This one is a total given. Only superhuman people can make it through a crack of dawn flight without some pick-me-up. Before security, YYJ has a Starbucks and Tim Hortons, and after security, you can get a coffee for the trip at Spinnakers On The Fly. Plus, when you spend $10 on food at the airport you get your $1 parking fee reimbursed – so be that extra cheery morning person and treat whoever drove you to the airport to a good breakfast.
4. Check out the art exhibit full of local Vancouver Island artists.
Did you know that more than 2 million people pass through Victoria Airport each year? No wonder artists would want their masterpieces on display here! Currently, art rotates around the airport, and you can catch eight works of art hanging around – including four First Nations carvings.
5. Sign up for Nexus and get through the airport even quicker.
Not that Victoria Airport is a particularly hard airport to get through (okay, it’s not at all) but sometimes you just need to save an extra 10 minutes of time – perhaps to indulge in a sit-down meal once you get through security? Or to fit in an extra little bit of work on your laptop before ‘airplane mode’ takes over? Whatever the reason may be, signing up for Nexus will help get you through the gates in a flash.
On a side note, even though it’s not open at 6 am, we just wanted to also give a shoutout to the BC Aviation Museum! We stopped in for a look around one afternoon and had so much fun checking out vintage planes and uniforms. You can even go inside an old aircraft – and let us just say, people back in the day had a lot more legroom.
Know of some other cool stuff happening at 6 am at Victoria Airport? Share your early morning tips with us by tweeting to @vaneairportmag and tagging #5thingsat6am.
Also, check out our guide on what to do at Vancouver Airport here.
UPDATED October 14, 2017
