Vancouver airport ‘almost back’ to full operations
Posted December 24, 2022 11:27 am.
Last Updated December 24, 2022 11:43 am.
After consecutive snowstorms virtually brought things to a halt at Vancouver International Airport (YVR) this week, the facility says operations are beginning to return to normal.
In an update Saturday morning, Tamara Vrooman, the president and CEO of YVR, said 93 per cent of scheduled flights will move forward on Christmas Eve.
“We’re almost back to a full schedule,” said Vrooman. “Some cancellations are coming through because of weather events in other parts of the country and other parts of the continent.
“But for the most part, we are operating as normal here at YVR.”
YVR UPDATE (08:10 AM) We are seeing major increases in aircraft movement over recent days and passengers are getting safely on their way for the holidays. We are expecting to operate 93% of originally scheduled flights with 65,000+ passengers travelling through the airport.
— YVR (@yvrairport) December 24, 2022
Multiple snowfalls earlier in the week brought chaos to the airport during one of its busiest times of the year. Thousands of holiday travellers were left stranded after widespread flight cancellations.
On Friday, Vrooman announced support for those who were stuck as a result of the cancellations. Up to 400 hotel rooms were offered to families travelling with young children and seniors awaiting a rescheduled flight.
Additionally, Vrooman said Saturday cots and pillows were provided to stranded travellers in a “quiet and secure” place in the terminal.
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When asked to reflect on the airport’s response to the snow and subsequent flight cancellations, Vrooman said snow removal and de-icing efforts went “as planned.”
“I think the learning for us certainly is we had passengers remain on aircraft for several hours. That is unacceptable,” she said, adding changes have been made to airport policies to avoid it from happening again.
She also says YVR will work to improve its relaying of information to travellers.
“The best answer that passengers, that people want to hear is ‘yes, everything’s fine,'” Vrooman explained. “The second best answer is ‘no, and here’s why.’ The worst answer is ‘we’re not sure.'”
The chaos in the final weeks of December was in stark contrast to how 2022 began for YVR.
Vrooman says since pandemic restrictions were peeled back earlier in the year, traffic increased 168 per cent over a six-month span.
