Calgary sees flight cancellations, delays amid Vancouver snowstorm

A winter storm in Vancouver that caused an "unprecedented" number of cancelled flights on Tuesday also created chaos for Calgary travellers.

The Vancouver International Airport (YVR) took to Twitter on Tuesday morning to warn that heavy snowfall had caused a "significant" number of flights to be delayed or cancelled.

A later update said the storm had caused "mass cancellations" that were expected to continue throughout the week. Officials asked passengers to check on their flight status and "not come to YVR if you do not absolutely need to."

Those cancellations created havoc at the Calgary International Airport (YYC), where people heading to — or through — Vancouver began to fear they may not make it there.

The Longinotti family was scheduled to board a WestJet flight to Vancouver on Tuesday en route to Maui, Hawaii.

They arrived more than four hours before their departure to see what the status of their flight was.

"It's been two years in the making," said Franco Longinotti of the Hawaii trip. "Because of COVID."

"We got here extra early today to try and make it to Vancouver, because we understand there's issues there. Hopefully … we'll be able to make it."

Eden Dawson was travelling though Calgary's airport with her partner as they worked their way from Waterloo, Ont., to Vancouver Island.

"It's not super surprising that Vancouver's closed," Dawson said.

"We're hoping that maybe (WestJet) will be able to give us some good news and maybe send us in a different direction. If not, we might have to just kind of head back home."

James Debruin says the pair were looking forward to spending the holidays with loved ones. 

"It would have been our first time spending Christmas with the family out west," he said. 

"But if it has to be done, what can we do?"

In a statement to CTV News, Air Canada said operations have been interrupted at unprecedented levels. 

"The amount of snow has also affected the ability of aircraft to be towed on/off gates, leading to gridlock, gate availability and frozen jet bridges (at YVR)," the statement read. 

A number of Air Canada's flights between Calgary and Vancouver were cancelled.

The airline said affected passengers can rebook their travel online.

The Calgary Airport Authority, meanwhile, said it is "slightly busier than usual" welcoming guests to the facility.

"We expect weather conditions on the west coast to clear over the next few hours and operations to resume and recover," said spokesperson Stephanie Harris. 

"YYC is also seeing departures delays due to extreme cold in Calgary. We recommend guests check with their airline prior to coming to YYC."

Harris said the authority's priority remains the safety of guests and staff. 

Though CTV News reached out to WestJet for comment, we had not received a response at the time of publishing. This article will be updated if/when we receive one.