Toronto Pearson is hoping to be on Santa’s “good” list this winter. Ahead of the 2023-2024 winter travel and holiday season, Toronto Pearson International Airport today announced a number of operational improvements designed to meet and maintain its readiness throughout the winter season. These initiatives include increased staffing, expanded deicing capacity, newly commissioned advanced snowplows, and the implementation of cutting-edge predictive technologies for weather and delay forecasting. An innovative AI system has also been put into place for more efficient baggage handling through the proactive identification and resolution of common, potential issues that may otherwise interrupt the flow of operations. Read more
airport delays
March is roaring in like a lion, and Canadian and American travellers are paying the price. A so-called “mega-storm” lashed the Greater Toronto Area with high winds and heavy, wet snow that reached depths of 35 centimeters. Roughly one-third of flights had been cancelled at Toronto Pearson as of 2 p.m. EST today (Saturday, March 4), nearly 1,000 flights in all. Airports in Detroit and Boston were hit with numerous cancelled flights over night , and authorities were warning of problems at airports in Ottawa and Montreal. As of 10 a.m. Saturday, Toronto Pearson’s media site was showing 459 outgoing Read more
Experts are warning Canadians that travel is about to get very busy again. And they say we need to be prepared. “Yes, I am getting many requests for bookings,” Toronto-based travel advisor Amy Urquhart of Pure Magic Vacations told me. “People are still looking to book getaways for March Break and into later spring and summer. The demand is overwhelming at times.” “As far as bookings go, I am well above where I was in the same time period of 2019 pre-pandemic,” said Canadian travel agent Brenda Slater, an Ontario agent and Travel Concierge with Beyond The Beach. “The Read more
Passenger traffic at Canada’s busiest airport grew almost four-fold in the first nine months of this year. The Greater Toronto Airports Authority (“GTAA”) today reported its financial and operating results for the three and nine months that ended September 30, 2022. Passenger activity increased by 6.5 million or 135.1 per cent to 11.2 million during the third quarter of 2022 compared to the same period in 2021. For the first nine months of this year, passenger activity rose from 6.8 million (2021) to 25.7 million (2022). That’s an increase of just under 274%, which helps explain all the gnashing of Read more
After a summer plagued by delays, the Trudeau government says Canadian airports are operating at levels similar to pre-pandemic numbers. For the week of September 26 to October 2, 2022, 98 percent of flights planned for Canada’s top four airports were completed (i.e., not cancelled); an improvement from 95 percent for the first week of July, officials said in a statement. That’s very close to the week of September 30 to October 6, 2019, when 99 percent of flights for the top four airports were completed. Ottawa also said that, from September 26 to October 2, 2022, more than 91 Read more
