Flight cancellations at Vancouver International Airport due to snowfall (PHOTOS)
A number of flights arriving and departing at Vancouver International Airport have been canceled today due to weather-related issues here and at destination airports.
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No international flights are affected at this time; YVR is only reporting cancellations for domestic flights, particularly the short flights using smaller aircraft to destinations within British Columbia and Washington State. This includes some flights to Nanaimo, Terrace, Campbell River, Seattle, Prince Rupert, Prince George, Castlegar, Fort St. John and Cranbrook.
Several longer haul domestic flights to Calgary, Toronto, Montreal, and Yellowknife are also affected.
Snow day Pano @yvrairport pic.twitter.com/67djelIUrx
— denny (@Towerden) December 9, 2016
Almost all of the canceled flights are operated by Air Canada. At the time of writing, approximately 30 departing flights and 28 arriving flights throughout the day have been axed from the schedule. Only a few departing flights are delayed, but the number of delays to arriving flights is growing.
Anyone traveling today should consult their airline and YVR’s website for the latest flight updates.
By Saturday, between 5 and 10 cm of snow is expected to fall at lower elevation areas next to sea level. As much as 25 cm of snow is forecasted for higher elevations in the region.
YVR crews mobilized for snow
Officials with the Vancouver Airport Authority say the bridges and roads leading to the airport are clear, and at the moment there are no service disruptions on the Canada Line.
The runways are clear of snow and ice, and planes are being deiced to ensure the safety of flights.
YVR says it has 80 pieces of snow-removal equipment worth $60 million at its disposal for use during a major snowstorm, and its snow-response fleet can clear the full 6-lane width and full length of of Granville Street, from the Fraser River to downtown Vancouver, in just 15 minutes.
Its snow-removal equipment includes five snow blowers that have a combined capacity to blow 25,000 tons of snow every hour, as far as 150 feet off from the runways and taxiways.
Four trucks can plough and sweep a 24-foot-wide path on the runways and taxiways, and three sweepers are equipped with a 22-foot-wide, high-speed broom. Three other models of trucks can also plough a 24-foot-wide path.
As well, YVR possesses three trucks that spread an environmentally-friendly solid and liquid de-icing solution to ensure the runways and taxiways don’t build ice.
Three so-called ‘hot tub’ machines, each equal to the size of a semi-trailer, are capable of melting 20 truckloads of snow every hour.
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