Vancouver travellers could see delays after bomb threats at Canadian airports

An unfounded bomb threat forced the evacuation of the air traffic control tower at Vancouver International Airport early Thursday morning.

Travellers heading to Vancouver’s airport are urged to check their flight status after Canada’s air traffic control service reported bomb threats at several major airports Thursday morning.

Nav Canada said threats affected airports in Vancouver, Ottawa, Montreal, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Calgary.

A spokesperson confirmed Vancouver International Airport was among the airports affected by “a security concern” at its Nav Canada operations.

“Safety and security remains our top priority and a thorough threat assessment was conducted,” Vancouver Airport Authority spokesperson Karoline Ravanelli said in an emailed statement.

“At this time, flights at YVR are operating normally.”

The Richmond RCMP says it was called to the Vancouver airport at approximately 2 a.m. for a report of a bomb threat to the air traffic control tower.

“The tower was subsequently evacuated,” the RCMP said in a statement.

“With the assistance of the Integrated Police Dog Services, a thorough search was conducted and no threats were located.”

Cpl. Melissa Lui said the local RCMP detachment “takes threats of this nature very seriously” and officers are continuing to investigate.

Nav Canada says its airport employees are safe, and service gradually resumed after “the evacuation of number of our sites” and threat assessments by authorities.

“We thank airlines and passengers for their patience as we work towards normal operations,” the agency said in a social media post.

Travellers are advised to check the status of their flight with their airline before heading to the airport.