Calgary International Airport bustling with holiday travellers

Passengers were lining up at Calgary International Airport on Friday, which was believed to be one of the busiest travel days of the year.

According to the Calgary Airport Authority, 1.5 million guests were expected to pass through the airport during the holiday season, with up to 55,000 guests each day.

December 22 and 29 should be the busiest.

"On a day like today (Dec. 22), we'd be north of 60,000 people coming through," said Chris Miles, Calgary Airport Authority COO.

"It's pretty decent. It's moving pretty quick," one man named C.J. told CTV News on Friday morning.

"I haven't been back at home in 13 years, so it's become a Christmas miracle sort of thing."

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He was headed to Halifax and remembers how bad the weather was last year at this time.

"My mom was barricading her place and the family was taking extra precautions."

In 2022, a winter storm in Vancouver, along with extremely cold temperatures in Alberta, snared travellers heading out on their Christmas getaways.

The weather cancelled more than 1,000 flights across Canada and forced guests to seek refunds from carriers.

Nick Kuhl has experienced it all before.

"Lost luggage, I've had multiple-day delays, spent Christmas Eve at (the) airport bar at Pearson two different times," Kuhl said.

"Today seemingly looks like it's going to be smooth."

The mild weather sealed the deal on his holiday travels.

He booked a last-minute flight to visit his sister, brother-in-law, nephews and niece out East.

"My sister and crew have no idea I'm coming," he said.

"So it's going to be a big surprise, getting there tonight."

The Calgary Airport Authority says this year, it added more equipment to tackle winter weather and improved communications with airlines but if there are snags in your plans, passengers' rights experts say you may qualify for compensation.

"Record the audio and possibly the video of announcements being made, take photographs of the announcements on the screens and ultimately hold airlines accountable," said Gabor Lukacs, founder of Air Passenger Rights.

While the weather is beyond the airport's control, officials encourage guests to follow some simple guidelines to make their trips as easy and efficient as possible.

Those include arriving at least two hours early for domestic flights and three hours early for international flights.

The Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA) also suggests guests bringing gifts with them hold off on wrapping them until they're through security.

However, it says one of the biggest backlogs at checkpoints is due to travellers not having their proper documentation ready, so CATSA reminds everyone to have those easily accessible. 

(With files from Mason DePatie)