With the Friday before Christmas expected to be one of the busiest travel days of the year, Canada’s biggest airports say they’re prepared for this year’s surge in holiday travellers as they aim to make the travel experience smoother than in 2022.
Last year, winter storms and post-pandemic staff shortages caused chaos, flight delays and cancellations affecting thousands of passengers.
A green Christmas is in the forecast for many parts of Canada, but even without the threat of poor weather, airports say they have prepared for possible headaches. Because of last year’s travel nightmare, some boosted staffing and flight schedules as well as adopted new technology to improve the travel experience for passengers.
Toronto Pearson International Airport, Canada’s largest airport, expects to see 150,000 people a day and just over a million a week during the holiday period, which refers to the two weeks leading up to Dec. 25 and ending shortly after Jan. 1.
This year, the airport is seeing a six per cent increase in flights, a 10 per cent increase in passengers, and a 20 per cent increase in baggage.
“So that's a lot of people but we're ready,” Fabrice de Dongo, spokesperson for the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, said in an interview with CTV News Channel on Friday. “We learned the lessons from last year. We invested in hiring lots of folks in the right positions. We invested in new technology, and bought new equipment to make sure the snow clearing could be done on time and more efficiently.”
To help baggage systems run more efficiently and smoothly, de Dongo said the airport invested in new AI technology that enables clearer and more precise tracking on bags.
Montreal-Trudeau International Airport is seeing a record-breaking year in passenger traffic, expecting around 1.2 million passengers, between Dec. 20 and Jan. 7, Eric Forest, spokesperson for Aéroports de Montréal, told CTVNews.ca in an email.
“By the end of 2023, we will have welcomed 21 million passengers in our facilities, more than in 2019, which until recently was our benchmark year,” Forest added. “In fact, YUL will have seen the greatest growth in passenger traffic of any major Canadian airport.”
To make the travel experience smooth, he said the airport has upgraded operations, such as baggage-handling facilities in June with a $40-million investment. The airport offers digital tools, such as YUL Express, an online reservation platform to book a specific time to access security checkpoints, up to 72 hours before flight departures, and Mobile Passport Control, which allows people submit their passport information and customs declaration before they go to the United States.
More than 75,000 travellers are projected to come through the Vancouver International Airport on Friday, making it the busiest day of the holiday travel season, Tamara Vrooman, president and chief executive officer, told CTV News Channel. For the month of December, two million travellers are expected at the airport, up 250,000 compared to December last year, she added.
After last year’s snowstorm in Vancouver that left many travellers stranded for days, Vrooman said the airport invested $40 million in improvements, including new and upgraded equipment such as in snow clearing and enhanced data analytics to improve communication and increased staffing levels to help passengers, she explained.
Vrooman added that it enhanced opportunities for people to plan ahead, such as with prebooking parking and using YVR Express to prebook screening time.
The airport experienced delays this year due to staffing shortages with security screeners and air traffic controllers. Vrooman said staffing levels across the sector are not ideal, but they have improved.
For Calgary International Airport, an average of 55,000 travellers per day are expected from Dec. 16 to Jan. 3, with 1.5 million expected to pass through in December alone, according to the Calgary Airport Authority. The airport authority said it has been preparing for the winter travel season since August, including upgrading its snow sweepers to allow it to clear runways faster and hiring extra staff.
Meanwhile, Halifax Stanfield International Airport says it has been seeing high passenger volumes on flights all year, and expects about 35,000 passengers from Dec. 17 to 24, similar to pre-pandemic levels during the holiday period.
Travellers can avoid headaches by arriving early, checking X, formerly Twitter, for operational updates and booking parking spots online ahead of time, de Dongo said.
“As travellers what we can control is taking advantage of some of the technologies that our airports offer and that some of our agencies and customs offer to help the travel experience and the time in the airport go more smoothly,” said de Dongo.
Forest recommends passengers arrive at the airport three hours before their flight, regardless of their destination. “With the expected traffic, passengers may have to wait longer than usual at certain stages of their journey to and at the airport,” he said.
Barry Choi, a Toronto-based travel expert, said there have been improvements at airports since last year, including a huge increase in staff, mainly for baggage carriers.Toronto’s Pearson airport has better signage, he added.
He recommends people take advantage of mobile apps offered by major airports, such as in Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary, that allow travellers to bypass the security line.
With files from The Canadian Press, CTV News Ottawa and CTV News Vancouver
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