Calgary International Airport offers travel tips ahead of busy holiday season
The YYC Calgary International Airport is kicking off its busiest time of year as pre-pandemic levels of travellers arrive and depart in swarms for the holiday season.
Upward of 50,000 guests per day are expected between Dec. 16 and Jan. 3, with the busiest days forecasted to be Dec. 22, 23 and 27.
For those doing the math, that's approximately 1.3 million people making their way through the airport. The Calgary Airport Authority is asking travellers to plan ahead and be prepared before flying to save time and make their experience more enjoyable.
"We are recommending that you arrive early at the airport," said Chris Miles, vice-president of operations and infrastructure with the Calgary Airport Authority. "So if it's a domestic departure that's two hours prior and for an international departure that's three hours prior.
"We are also the first airport to offer a pre-booking service for security which is an opportunity for guests to go online to our website three days prior to arrival or departure, select your airline, flight number and a time when you'd like to go through security."
The airport is also offering 20 minutes of free parking in its short-term lots from Dec. 15 to Jan 3 and 60 minutes of free wait time in its cell phone lots for picking up arriving passengers.
In an effort to reduce wait times, the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA) is also reminding airport guests to 'pack savvy' this holiday season.
CATSA spokesperson Sandra Alvarez says seasonal items that should be packed in check-in bags rather than carry-on include bath salts and items that contain over 100 millilitres of liquid including snow globes and bottles of holiday cheer.
Whether in checked bags or carry-on, gifts should not be wrapped.
"It's also important to recognize your belongings when you're going to pre-board screening," said Alvarez. "Placing stickers on personal items like laptops can help distinguish yours from someone else's.
"Be aware of different toys that might put you over the limit. Things like Orbeez, which are little balls filled with gels or liquid, still have a restriction of under 100 millilitres."
The Calgary Airport Authority expects upward of 1.3 million passengers will arrive at, or depart from, YYC Calgary International Airport over the holiday season.
PREPARING FOR YOUR RETURN
The Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) is reminding travellers to check the 'I Declare' web page before travelling and to have all of their documentation ready to be checked when they arrive.
"We want to get you out the door as quickly as possible, but don't forget to declare everything that you're bringing with you that you've either purchased or that you've received," said Lisa White, CBSA's director for Central Alberta.
"You can travel with up to $10,000 Canadian without having to declare but anything over and above $10,000 Canadian must be declared."
White adds that the removal of the ArriveCan app is also one less thing for travellers to worry about, but other programs are being looked at to streamline the custom process.
"As you're seeing in other airports across the country, there's advanced declaration and parts of those platforms," said White. "The hope is to leverage the technology to streamline even more quickly so that will be coming to YYC in 2023 at some point, but we're not quite there yet."
Holiday travellers who will be returning to Canada are encouraged to visit the Canadian Border Services Agency's I Declare website for a list of guidelines.
SPREADING SOME HOLIDAY CHEER
The YYC Calgary International Airport is once again getting into the holiday spirit with its Festival of Trees displays set up throughout the terminals along with special pop-up musical performances.
White hat volunteers and YYC customer care ambassadors are also available to help guests navigate a barrier-free airport experience by providing wayfinding, mobility and translation services.
For those needing some emotional support, the Pre-Board Pals program is back once again with service dogs on site to help calm the nerves of guests dealing with a stressful travel experience.
"The idea is to come help people who are feeling that extra stress or are scared to fly, we just want to bring them joy," said Victoria Winslow with the Pre-Board Pals program.
"I have sat with people as long as 45 minutes before and young children tell us their heart rate drops just by petting our dogs so it creates a sense of happiness and community as well."
The four-legged members of the Pre-Board Pals will help take some of the stress out of holiday travel at YYC Calgary International Airport.
WESTJET COMMITS TO EFFICIENT TRAVEL EXPERIENCE
Over the course of the holiday season, WestJet says it expects up to 140 daily departures to destinations across Canada, the United States, Mexico, Hawaii, and the Caribbean out of Calgary alone, with approximately 600 daily departures over peak holiday travel days network-wide.
Following technical disruptions to its check-in service last month, the airline says it is now better prepared to handle and mitigate any issues that may arise.
"We have recently just hired 60 new people specifically to help on the ramp and help our service partners and bolster the oversight and the support for our baggage," said Colleen Tynan, WestJet's vice-president of airports.
"From an IT perspective, we've done some redundancy testing and we've enhanced some of our self-serve functionality so it'll be really important that our guests come to the airport checked in so that we can help make sure that their travel flow here at the airport is as smooth as possible."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Spectacular aurora light show to be seen across Canada Friday night
A rare and severe solar storm is expected to bring spectacular displays of the northern lights, also known as aurora borealis, across much of Canada and parts of the United States on Friday night.
'Tactical evacuations' underway near Fort Nelson, B.C., as wildfires encroach
The BC Wildfire Service says 'tactical evacuations' began Friday near Fort Nelson, B.C., due to an out-of-control wildfire that has grown rapidly since it was discovered earlier in the afternoon.
Snowbirds in Vancouver for puck-drop flyby as Canucks face Oilers
The Canadian Forces Snowbirds will be performing a flyover across downtown Vancouver at the start of tonight's Stanley Cup playoff game between the Canucks and the Edmonton Oilers.
McGill University seeks emergency injunction to dismantle pro-Palestinian encampment
McGill University has filed a request for an injunction to have the pro-Palestinian encampment removed from its campus.
Which Canadian cities have the highest and lowest grocery prices?
Where you live plays a big factor in what you pay at the grocery store. And while it's no secret the same item may have a different price depending on the store, city or province, we wanted to see just how big the differences are, and why.
Swarm of 20,000 bees gather around woman’s car west of Toronto
A swarm of roughly 20,000 bees gathered around a woman’s car in the parking lot of Burlington Centre.
Video shows naked raccoon catching B.C. family by surprise
When Marvin Henschel spotted a strange and hairless creature wandering through a front lawn in B.C.'s Lower Mainland, he could barely believe his eyes.
Barron Trump declines to serve as an RNC delegate
Former U.S. President Donald Trump's youngest son, Barron Trump, has declined to serve as a delegate at this summer’s Republican National Convention, according to a senior Trump campaign adviser and a statement from Melania Trump's office.
Out-of-control wildfire prompts evacuation alert for Fort McMurray, Saprae Creek Estates Friday night
An evacuation alert was issued for two Wood Buffalo communities Friday night, as crews battled an out-of-control wildfire near Fort McMurray.