YVR passengers stranded as Vancouver airport halts all flights amid snow storm
The chaos continues at Vancouver airport as bad weather has grounded all flights, leaving passengers stranded at the airport and on planes for hours.
On Tuesday morning, YVR tweeted about the mass cancellations caused by “the winter storm and severe snowfall,” saying it has had an unprecedented impact on flights and operations.
As of 7:30 am, there were no flights leaving YVR.
UPDATE (0730): The winter storm and severe snowfall has had an unprecedented impact on flights and operations at YVR, with mass cancellations. Travel continues to be significantly impacted this morning & we anticipate cancellations to continue through the day and the week ahead.
— YVR (@yvrairport) December 20, 2022
“There are currently no flights departing YVR as we safely get passengers off aircraft and clear the airfield and aircraft of snow and ice to get planes and people moving again,” reads a statement on the YVR site.
They’re also asking passengers to check the status of their flight beforehand.
“We are asking people to please not come to YVR if you do not absolutely need to,” they stated.
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Many passengers have been stranded for hours, with one person saying that after a three-hour delay, they ended up stuck on their plane for over nine hours.
Flight scheduled for 5pm. Boarded at 8pm. 10pm we started pushing back. 12am announcement made we weren’t leaving and waiting for a gate to open for our plane. It is now 5:43am. I have been on this plane for over 9.5 hours.
— Jack Kalb (@jackkaybyte) December 20, 2022
One Qantas passenger said they’d been on the plane for over five hours, while another passenger said they’d been without food after sitting on the tarmac for seven hours.
Hey @yvrairport @Qantas flight 76 has passengers who have been on their plane 5 1/2 hours because apparently you don’t have a plan to deal with snow. Someone get us off this plane!
— Scott Schade (@sdschade) December 20, 2022
We’ve been stuck on the tarmac trying to deplane for 7 hours now. How can you let this happen? Hundreds of people have been stuck on a flight with no food, except a granola bar. This is ridiculous. You are letting us all down.
— sehamasfar (@sehamasfar) December 20, 2022
My sister has been waiting on your tarmac for nearly 4 hours. Please have the decency to get these people off the planes. They should take precedence over everything, it’s freezing outside and people on the planes are freezing too!
— Paola Parra (@Paobparr) December 20, 2022
Even people arriving at Vancouver airport weren’t spared, with passengers waiting for hours to disembark.
Landed 4hrs ago and still sitting on the plane. To be honest tho, this is way more comfortable than the nightmare crowd of people in baggage claim. Got movies, drinks, games, and warm… could be worse
— Ben Monkhouse (@ben_monkhouse) December 20, 2022
And it’s not just people travelling out of Vancouver experiencing the frustrations brought on by bad weather. One Twitter user posted a photo of the nightmare at baggage claim after flights were cancelled.
This could take a while … mayhem at #yvr in luggage area with #bcstorm flight cancellations pic.twitter.com/nMgzmNIZkM
— Craig Minielly (@craigminielly) December 20, 2022
“We recognize the affect these cancellations have on our community,” reads the statement. “We sincerely apologize to all of those impacted. We will provide further information as it becomes available with updates to follow throughout the day.”
Check here for updates.
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