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
Montreal Trudeau Airport
In a move it hopes will modernize and expedite the travel experience at Canadian airports, the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) is now providing travellers the option to submit their customs and immigration declaration up to 72 hours in advance of their arrival in Canada through ArriveCAN. The Advance CBSA Declaration optional feature is currently available for international travellers arriving at Toronto Pearson, Montreal-Trudeau, and Vancouver international airports. In the coming months, the optional feature will also become available to travellers arriving at Winnipeg, Halifax, Calgary, Edmonton, Billy Bishop, Ottawa and Quebec City international airports. By submitting their customs and Read more
Toronto Pearson continues to experience some of the highest rates of delayed flights around the world, and the critics are pouncing. But we’re also seeing problems at the Toronto City Centre/Island Airport and at Montreal Trudeau. The airline tracking website Flight Aware sparked a worldwide condemnation of Canada’s busiest airport when it reported that Pearson’s delay rate for the period from May 26 to July 9 was 52.5%. That was the highest in the world, and Pearson was the only airport on the planet with a cancellation rate higher than 50%. Things started to get better, but progress seems to Read more
After a few days of relatively settled conditions, it’s another rough go today for folks flying Canadian airlines. According to stats from flightaware.com, as of 1 p.m. Easter Time Air Canada Jazz has seen 81 cancellations today, which accounts for 19% of their scheduled flights. It’s a little better for Air Canada’s main line, but they’re still listed with 46 cancellations (12% of flights). Air Canada Rouge had six cancellations (11%). “Our schedule is being impacted by a number of factors including weather (particularly in Eastern Canada today), changing government rules and resource constraints related to COVID affecting both internal Read more
KEY WEST – The Florida Keys have always been a favourite for me. I’ve always driven down from Miami in the past and enjoyed watching the colour of the water change and checking out the odd tiki bar along the way for a beer and a blackened fish sandwich. Usually I drive, but this time I flew in with some other Canadian travel writers, landing on the short runway at the airport in Key West. Someone on our very short bus ride into town was telling me they find it hard to describe the feeling of coming from a cold Read more
