CYVR · YVR · Vancouver, British Columbia
Planes near YVR: live flight tracking at Vancouver International
Vancouver International (YVR / CYVR) serves Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. On an island in the Fraser delta, with mountains immediately north and the Pacific west.
The live map
Aircraft the volunteer receiver network can currently hear around Vancouver. The frame is fixed on the field; tap or click an aircraft to open its full details.
Nothing here is filtered. Military aircraft, aircraft in the FAA's LADD privacy programme and aircraft using temporary addresses all appear the same way anything else does. Open the full map to pan, zoom and switch layers.
Movements we watched happen
Snapshot written . This page refreshes by itself while it is open.
These are transitions the receiver network actually observed at YVR, each with the time it was seen. Nothing here is guessed from a timetable.
Why there may be fewer departures than arrivals
A departure is only counted once a receiver has seen the aircraft on the ground here first. That guard stops us inventing takeoffs for aircraft that merely flew overhead, and it costs us real ones: hearing an aircraft sitting on an airport surface needs a receiver with line of sight to that surface, which is the hardest reception there is. An arrival only needs the aircraft to have been seen airborne, and airborne coverage is very good.
So at any airport without a clear view of the ground, this list will show fewer departures than actually happened. If you see more arrivals than departures below, read that as a fact about where the antennas are, not about the airport.
| Time | Movement | Flight | Aircraft |
|---|---|---|---|
| 02:58 UTC | Departure | ROU1726 | B38M · C-GEJL |
| 02:55 UTC | Departure | WJA128 | B738 · C-GWSV |
| 02:54 UTC | Arrival | JZA597 | CRJ9 · C-GJUZ |
| 02:50 UTC | Departure | JZA280 | DH8D · C-GGND |
| 02:49 UTC | Departure | ACA226 | A321 · C-FGKN |
| 02:49 UTC | Arrival | JZA324 | DH8D · C-GGMQ |
| 02:47 UTC | Departure | ANT584 | GLID · C-FNYA |
| 02:46 UTC | Arrival | JZA367 | DH8D · C-GGMU |
| 02:45 UTC | Arrival | WJA603 | B738 · C-FRWA |
| 02:44 UTC | Arrival | ROU2137 | B38M · C-FSIL |
| 02:43 UTC | Departure | CGPCJ | SF34 · C-GPCJ |
| 02:42 UTC | Arrival | CGPCQYZ | B190 · C-GPCR |
Showing the most recent 12 of 24 in the current recording window.
What appears to be inbound and outbound right now
Where the aircraft in range right now are most likely heading, worked out from their callsigns rather than watched happening.
How this list is built
We take the aircraft the receiver network can currently hear, read the callsign each one is broadcasting, and look that callsign up in an index of the routes it has actually flown before. An entry means this callsign's most commonly observed route ends at YVR. That is a good guide to where a flight is going. It is not a flight plan: nobody has told us today's routing, and we would rather say that than dress an inference up as a schedule.
The consequences are worth knowing. A diversion or an unusual routing will be listed wrong. A charter, a positioning leg, or any flight the index has not seen before is missing entirely. You will occasionally see an aircraft here sitting on the ground on the far side of a continent, which is the method showing its working rather than hiding it. There are no scheduled times or arrival estimates on this page because neither can be computed honestly from what we hold.
For gates, delays and cancellations the airline and the airport are authoritative. This page is for what is actually in the air.
Inbound nearest 20 of 46
| Flight | From | Altitude | Ground speed | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JZA597CRJ9 · C-GJUZ | SacramentoKSMF / SMF | on the ground | 1 kt | 0 nmENE of the field |
| CFWZKB190 · C-FWZK | ComoxCYQQ / YQQ | 0 ft | 18 kt | 1 nmSSE of the field |
| WJA729B38M · C-FAXD | TorontoCYYZ / YYZ | 700 ft | 154 kt | 3 nmWNW of the field |
| CRN411B350 · C-FBCL | Prince GeorgeCYXS / YXS | 3,900 ft | 220 kt | 14 nmWNW of the field |
| CGPCJSF34 · C-GPCJ | VictoriaCYYJ / YYJ | 225 ft | 105 kt | 34 nmSSW of the field |
| WJA793B38M · C-FIBA | HalifaxCYHZ / YHZ | 14,700 ft | 365 kt | 41 nmENE of the field |
| ACA121A321 · C-FCEU | TorontoCYYZ / YYZ | 13,375 ft | 374 kt | 49 nmENE of the field |
| ACA559BCS3 · C-FHBQ | Los AngelesKLAX / LAX | 19,075 ft | 406 kt | 63 nmSSE of the field |
| POE309E295 · C-GKYW | TorontoCYYZ / YYZ | 23,925 ft | 326 kt | 70 nmENE of the field |
| DAL2977A320 · N362NW | MinneapolisKMSP / MSP | 24,650 ft | 362 kt | 72 nmSE of the field |
| JZA279DH8D · C-GGNZ | KelownaCYLW / YLW | 16,075 ft | 273 kt | 93 nmENE of the field |
| JZA809DH8D · C-GJZH | SeattleKSEA / SEA | 350 ft | 138 kt | 111 nmSSE of the field |
| JBU49A320 · N709JB | BostonKBOS / BOS | 37,200 ft | 425 kt | 112 nmESE of the field |
| ACA549B789 · C-FEGI | NewarkKEWR / EWR | 39,975 ft | 450 kt | 151 nmENE of the field |
| UAL2429N27287 | San FranciscoKSFO / SFO | 36,000 ft | 483 kt | 234 nmS of the field |
| ACA345A321 · C-GITY | OttawaCYOW / YOW | 30,025 ft | 432 kt | 258 nmENE of the field |
| ACA123A321 · C-GITU | TorontoCYYZ / YYZ | 32,000 ft | 405 kt | 290 nmENE of the field |
| FLE1849B38M · C-FLHI | San FranciscoKSFO / SFO | 38,000 ft | 475 kt | 365 nmS of the field |
| ROU2139B38M · C05067 | HoustonKIAH / IAH | 36,000 ft | 430 kt | 368 nmESE of the field |
| WJA129B38M · C-FTXF | CalgaryCYYC / YYC | on the ground | 0 kt | 370 nmENE of the field |
Outbound nearest 20 of 32
| Flight | To | Altitude | Ground speed | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UAL1083B38M · N27292 | San FranciscoKSFO / SFO | on the ground | 12 kt | 1 nmNE of the field |
| CJT554B763 · C-GAJG | EdmontonCYEG / YEG | on the ground | 15 kt | 1 nmW of the field |
| SKW3887E75L · N299SY | SeattleKSEA / SEA | on the ground | 9 kt | 1 nmW of the field |
| WJA128B738 · C-GWSV | CalgaryCYYC / YYC | 8,175 ft | 279 kt | 15 nmESE of the field |
| CGEXDB505 · C-GEXD | Prince GeorgeCYXS / YXS | 7,000 ft | 216 kt | 21 nmNW of the field |
| JZA280DH8D · C-GGND | KelownaCYLW / YLW | 15,800 ft | 298 kt | 28 nmNE of the field |
| ACA226A321 · C-FGKN | CalgaryCYYC / YYC | 15,500 ft | 413 kt | 42 nmE of the field |
| CGHHJS76 · C-GHHJ | Friday HarborKFHR / FRD | 950 ft | 165 kt | 49 nmS of the field |
| DLH477A359 · D-AIVA | MunichEDDM / MUC | 37,025 ft | 521 kt | 261 nmNNE of the field |
| FLE812B738 · C-FFLJ | CalgaryCYYC / YYC | 34,000 ft | 509 kt | 265 nmENE of the field |
| ACA33B789 · C-FGDX | Sydney (Mascot)YSSY / SYD | 40,000 ft | 447 kt | 327 nmENE of the field |
| CJT1925B752 · C-FFPA | Cincinnati / CovingtonKCVG / CVG | 39,000 ft | 527 kt | 357 nmE of the field |
| MAL7063B752 · C-FMAI | CalgaryCYYC / YYC | on the ground | 16 kt | 371 nmENE of the field |
| WJA126B738 · C-FWSE | CalgaryCYYC / YYC | on the ground | 0 kt | 371 nmENE of the field |
| SKW4009N310SY | Salt Lake CityKSLC / SLC | 35,000 ft | 411 kt | 452 nmSE of the field |
| ACA558BCS3 · C-GWUQ | Los AngelesKLAX / LAX | 37,000 ft | 435 kt | 541 nmSSE of the field |
| WEN3405DH8D · C-GWRE | VictoriaCYYJ / YYJ | 24,000 ft | 319 kt | 607 nmENE of the field |
| JZA768CRJ9 · C-GJZT | San DiegoKSAN / SAN | 37,025 ft | 428 kt | 651 nmSSE of the field |
| ACA124BCS3 · C-GMYU | TorontoCYYZ / YYZ | 35,000 ft | 537 kt | 712 nmENE of the field |
| FDX139B763 · N111FE | MemphisKMEM / MEM | 39,025 ft | 474 kt | 730 nmESE of the field |
About Vancouver International
- ICAO codeCYVR
- IATA codeYVR
- ServesVancouver
- RegionBritish Columbia, Canada
- Coordinates49.194°N, 123.184°W
Vancouver International sits on Sea Island in the mouth of the Fraser River, with the Coast Mountains rising steeply a short distance north and the Strait of Georgia to the west. It is the main Canadian gateway across the Pacific, so the traffic here skews strongly toward Asia, and the mountain terrain gives arrivals and departures much less freedom than the flat delta beneath them suggests.
Floatplanes working the harbour and the Gulf Islands are part of the local picture and are often the lowest and slowest contacts on the map. Many similar aircraft will not appear at all, having no transponder obligation to meet.
What the codes mean
Airports carry two identifiers and they are not interchangeable.
YVR is the IATA code: three letters, the one printed on a
boarding pass and a baggage tag, assigned for commercial purposes and reused across
the world without any geographic logic.
CYVR is the ICAO code: four letters, used by air traffic
control, flight planning systems and trackers like this one. Its first
letter, C, marks
Canada, because ICAO allocates the code space by region.
The callsigns in the lists above are a third thing again. A callsign is what the crew typed into the transponder for this leg, so it changes flight by flight, while the registration and the 24-bit hex address stay with the airframe. When a callsign and a registration disagree, the registration is usually the more reliable of the two.
How to read the numbers
Altitude is pressure altitude, which is what the aircraft's air data system reads with a standard pressure setting. It is not height above the ground and it is not always the altitude the crew is flying to. Near Vancouver that gap is most obvious on approach, when a tracker can show a figure that does not match what is on the flight deck.
Ground speed is speed across the earth, not through the air. A strong tailwind can add a hundred knots or more to it without the aircraft flying any faster, which is why two aircraft at the same level going opposite ways can show wildly different numbers. Track is the direction of travel over the ground, which is not the direction the nose is pointing when there is any crosswind at all.
Aircraft go missing from this map for reasons that have nothing to do with the aircraft. Reception is line of sight, so terrain and distance cut it off abruptly; a good deal of light aviation in the United States broadcasts on 978 MHz rather than 1090 MHz; and plenty of aircraft, including gliders and older light types, carry no ADS-B at all and are not required to. How ADS-B works covers all of that properly.
Other airports on the map
The nearest fields with their own live page:
