Thank you.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair and members of the committee. Thank you for the invitation to speak to you today.
I am Gerry Bruno, executive adviser to the president and CEO of the Vancouver Airport Authority, Tamara Vrooman. The Vancouver Airport Authority is the private, non-share capital corporation that operates the Vancouver airport—or, as we are more commonly known, YVR.
Since our time together is limited, I will jump right in.
The impacts to our industry run deep. You received detailed accounts back in December from our colleagues at the Canadian Airports Council and the National Airlines Council of Canada, and you also heard distressing stories from my industry colleagues here today. YVR is no exception.
Our passenger numbers dropped 88% last year, our year-over-year revenues declined 63%, and 2021 is looking to be even more severe. We took drastic measures to reduce expenses, consolidating our operations and eliminating all but essential spending on capital projects, and had to secure an additional $600-million loan to allow us to operate with limited revenue for the next couple of years. We're basically operating on borrowed money.
We recognize that we need to fight this pandemic together. As was the case at airports across the country, YVR proactively introduced new measures in our terminals to ensure a safe and healthy environment for passengers and employees. We also partnered with government and invested in a testing pilot to gather scientific data that will help inform policy decisions. Our trial with UBC, Providence Health Care and WestJet explores the use of pre-departure rapid antigen testing, focusing on cutting off risk at the point of origin. We turned our empty parking lots into one of the largest drive-through COVID-19 testing sites in British Columbia. We continue to offer our infrastructure, technology and resources to assist the vaccine distribution of our nation.
However, our industry continues to be in peril and our airports need assistance today. The reality is that 2021 is shaping up to be even harder for our industry than 2020. Recovery is expected to take many years, and experts anticipate that we will not reach mass global vaccination for some time. The aviation industry simply cannot afford to rely on vaccines alone as the solution to this health emergency for the foreseeable future.
You have heard from our industry on the financial assistance we desperately need. We are also extremely concerned about the competitiveness of our transportation systems vis-à-vis the U.S., whose airlines and airports have received tens of billions of dollars in government support. The competitive gap we were experiencing in the past is going to be even greater as we emerge from this pandemic.
Today, I want to focus on the measures we need for a safe and orderly return of travel once the immediate public health concerns have been dealt with.
We require careful planning and coordination by governments and industry today to ensure we are well prepared for the resumption of travel. We need a comprehensive, layered testing framework in place—a national approach and standard that ensures safety in air travel and helps rebuild trust and confidence in our sector. Even with the vaccines in place, travellers will still require testing. There is a lot that is still unknown about the vaccine.
As our borders reopen, governments will need to be confident in the accuracy of passengers' health status, including testing results and vaccination records. This will require government investment in technology that will enable a touchless journey, biometric identity confirmation, collection of verifiable health records, and strong privacy protection.