WestJet suspends all flights to and from Vancouver Airport as winter storm bears down on B.C.'s South Coast
Flights also cancelled atairports inVictoria, Nanaimo, Abbotsford and Comox
WestJethas announced the cancellation ofall flights arriving and departing from Vancouver International Airport (YVR) from 11:50 p.m. Thursday untilFriday afternoon, dependent on weather conditions.
The airline said Thursday in an emailed statement it has also cancelled flights atairports inVictoria, Nanaimo, Abbotsford and Comox.
The cancellations will affect 126 flights across the five airports. The airline said affected passengers had been notified.
The cancellations come as leadership at Vancouver International Airport (YVR) warnedmore delays are likely on Friday as B.C.'s South Coast braces for another winter storm that could bringsnow, wind and freezing rain to the region.
A statement from the airport said the situation had improved slightly as flights were "steadily arriving and departing'' Thursday, but officials are still dealing with cancellations, delays and congestion as they prepared for a fresh blast of snow overnight.
"Things do move more slowly in the snow, just like when you're driving or walking. An airport is no different, no matter where it is in the world ... so things will take a little longer, but we're ready," said the airport's president and CEO, Tamara Vrooman, speaking in an interview for the first time since the snow stopped all flights earlier this week.
"It is the worst timing to have this kind of snow event right at the holidays. We apologize. We feel for passengers.
"This is not how we want to spend our time as an airport serving them, but we have made the adjustments. It is improving, and we hope that we'll be able to get more passengers connected to where they want to go."
Vancouver Airport CEO Tamara Vroomanexplains the delays:
The crowd at the airport was thinner Thursday compared toshoulder-to-shoulder crowding days earlier, though the floor was still dotted with defeated, exhausted travellers slumped against any empty wall space they could find for a moment's sleep.
Graveyards of lost luggage surrounded baggage carousels, whileTVs overheardshowedendless flight delays.
Louie Madlang has slept the past three nights on the floor at Vancouver InternationalAirportas he tries to return home to Lloydminster, Sask., where his teenage son is waiting. He's been stuck at theairportsince arriving Monday on a flight from the Philippines, and his connection was cancelled.
Madlang, travelling with his wife and two-year-old daughter and his adult nephew's family, said he's now hoping to get a flight to Edmonton on Christmas Eve, then drive five hours home.
"We can't shower, and we tried to book the nearby hotels, and they are all booked. We slept on floors or sometimes walked around theairportfor hours until [we]felt tired. As adults, we can handle that, but the most difficult is the kids."
Others who managed to get through to airlines' customer service teams to rebookflights have only hadhopes dashed again and again.
"It's a bit hard to understand that a little bit of snow already has such an impact ...I came inbound from Calgary, and thereit's like, 20 C, and there's no problems at all,"said Matthias Lauerman, whoseflight home to Frankfurt, Germany has been cancelled twice.
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Between 10 and 20 centimetres of fresh snow are expected for the Lower Mainland startingThursday night. The snowcould be followed by freezing rain and then, as icy temperatures ease, 10 or more millimetres of rain on Saturday.
Executives said the airport's snow removal and de-icing teams were fully staffed but could not keep up as nearly 30 centimetres ofsnow fell overnight on Monday by the time a cleared plane made it to the taxiway, it would need to turn around, come back and be de-iced again.
Some travellers sat onboard their flight on the tarmac for as long as 12 hours as the airport ran out of gates to allow travellers off stuck planes. Staffing also became a problem as crews hit the maximum shift length.
From there, Vrooman said, cancellations piled up.
"The way that the snow fell ... was unprecedented," said Vrooman.
"We certainly have learnings, though, and those learnings are around how long people are holding on aircraft. That's not acceptable. We absolutely agree. And so we have corrected that there will be no holds on aircraft."
The airport is continuing to restrict the number of international flights flying into YVR to make space on the airfield to prioritize domestic flights until 5 a.m. PT on Friday.
A statement from the Vancouver Airport Authorityissued Thursday afternoon said115 flights out of 666 flights to and from YVR were cancelled as of 3 p.m. PT. It went on to saytravellers can expect additional delays and cancellations in the coming days amid wintry conditions.
Hundreds of Air Canada and WestJet flights have been grounded since Sunday because of the conditions.
The latest update from WestJet says nearly 80 flights were cancelled Thursday.
A statement from Air Canada said just over 88 per cent of planned flights went ahead Wednesday. With more severe weather in the forecast, affecting airports across Canada, the airline said it has a "flexible rebooking policy'' in place, offering passengers the option to reschedule or receive a travel voucher.
With files from Yasmin Gandham and The Canadian Press
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