Vancouver airport restricting international flights for 2 days to clear backlog after snowstorm

The number of international flights allowed to land in Vancouver will be restricted over two of the busiest travel days of the year as the airport works to clear a backlog of planes following widespread delays and cancellations during a snowstorm on Tuesday.

Vancouver International Airport (YVR) said the decision affects more than two dozen international flights scheduled to land between Wednesday and Friday, just ahead of the Christmas weekend.

"A significant number of aircraft remain at YVR[after the snowstorm], which has led to congestion on our airfield and limited our ability to facilitate arriving and departing flights," read a statement from the airport on Wednesday.

"Our focus is to depart aircraft from the airport and get crews and passengers safely on their way. Therefore, we will be temporarily limiting arriving international flights for approximately 48 hours."

The airport temporarily suspended operationsafteran unusually heavy snowfall across B.C.'s South Coast onMonday night through Tuesday morning, leading to hundreds of cancelled or delayed flights.

Both days were expected to be some the airport's busiest of the year, with more than 134,000 combined travellers passing through.

In an interview on Wednesday,YVR's vice president said the airport was back to about 60 per cent of its typicaloperating levels as of midday, but the situation won't be fully back to normal for days.

"The weather is not as it was ...but we are still into de-icing," said Mike McNaney, who is also the airport's chief external affairs officer.

"So there is still going to be delays, and there will still be cancellations in the days to come as we process through all that the last storm brought to us."

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Stranded passengers at Vancouver International Airport are scrambling to find a way to their destinations after a winter storm brought operations to a standstill, causing a ripple effect across Canada.

McNaney said the airport's de-icing crews were out in full force at the peak of the snowstorm overnight Monday, but snow was building up on planes faster than staff could clear it off for a safe takeoff.

"All these aircraft ... they worked their way through de-icing then had to return either back to the gate, back to apron, or get back into a de-icing line and all of this created then theincredible congestion that we were seeing in the airfield," he said.

"Then you have a cascading impact on top of that, as flights begin to cancel because air crews are hitting their maximum duty times that they can operate or needingto refuel," he continued.

"So all of that came together, unfortunately."

Dozens of planes sitting on the tarmac were stuck in limbo overnight Monday, unable to take offor find a gate to let stranded passengers deplane even, for some, after 12 hours.

McNaney said the airport brought "air stairs" to planes that didn't have gates to allow some passengers to exit directly onto the tarmac, but the process was slow in the icy conditions.

"When you were doing anair stairs offloading of an aircraft, particularly in the middle of the storm and particularly when things are icing up, it is a very, very slow process to even deplane oneaircraft," he said, adding air stairs can only take one passenger at a time.

The domestic terminal was already full before dawn Wednesday, with hundreds ofstranded travellers crowdingcustomer service desks or sleepingon the floor in hallways and bathrooms with winter coats for pillows and blankets.

More snow is possible overnight on Thursday. McEnany said the airport will be fully staffed with all of its de-icing equipment on standbybut the airport will not be able to keep up if the snow falls as it did earlier in the week.

"The overall issue of it, it's just the sheer volume of the snow and then the sheer volume of aircraft turning back," he said.

The Canadian Transportation Agency, an independent tribunal that provides consumer protection for air passengers across the country, said Wednesday its team is proactively responding to the situation.

"The [agency]has designated enforcement officers on site gathering information, which involves several airlines, and will take appropriate actions as necessary," a spokesperson said in an email.

A statement from WestJet, just one of dozens of airlines using the airport, said it cancelled hundreds of flightsthis week due to weather in B.C. and Alberta.

"Pretty bummed ...everyone was bummed," saidHassan Khan, who gave up and drove home to Langley, B.C., after his family'splane to Hawaii never managed to leave the departure gate in Vancouver on Monday night.

Airports, airlines across B.C. overwhelmed

A spokesperson at Kelowna's airport, where many flights were also delayed or cancelled due to the weather, also declined an interview but saiddisrupted flights would continue to cause compounding issues for travellers.

The spokesperson said it was up toairlines to determine how to prioritize re-bookingsand travellers should check with airlinesdirectly.

Air Canada said it was waiving re-booking fees and offering vouchers for people scheduled to fly in and out of YVRup untilDec. 25.

"We are working to get aircraft and crew which are out of positionback on track following B.C.'s unprecedented winter storm," said the airline, referring to Wednesday as a "recovery day."

In a statement, WestJet said there were 210 flight cancellations on Tuesday, mainly due to disruptions in Vancouver and frigid temperatures in Calgary and Edmonton. They also said there were 146 flight cancellations on Monday and 104 on Sunday.

Another 130 WestJetflights were cancelled Wednesday. The airline said nine flights scheduled for Thursday have been cancelled, a number that is expected to increase.

The airline said"there is very limited re-accommodation availability due to the high demand for travel this time of year and the significant impact across the industry."

People travelling between Wednesdayand Dec. 26 can proactively cancel their booking for a full refund on their website, it added.

Transport Canada said it is monitoring the situation. A statement acknowledged delays are frustrating for passengers, especially over the holidays, but said planes must be properly de-iced and cleared of snow before takeoff.

'Just make other plans,'passenger says

Khan's family waited at Vancouver International Airportall night to try to get information from WestJeton how to reschedule the flight. He said fellow passengers were there just trying to locate their checked bags.

For Khan and his family, the Hawaii vacation is off they booked through an online company that wasn't able to re-book the five of them on a flight for at least three days, so they've been promised a refund.

His advice for anyone else trying to travel by air in the coming days?

"Get on the phones right away, because that's theonly thing that's going to help you out," said Khan.

"Or just make other plans."