ENFIELD, N.S. – Whether you’re one of the thousands of Maritimers hoping to get home for Christmas — or one of the countless families waiting for loved ones to arrive – it’s been a day of transportation nightmares, especially if you’re flying in or out of the region.
That massive ice storm over Eastern Canada disrupted flights right across the country, including right here in Halifax.
If you were hoping to leave the Maritimes on an airplane, you may be kept on the ground for awhile: passengers are being forced to kill time at the Halifax Stanfield International Airport.
“Safety is always the big issue. Safety of the crews and passengers, and airlines are cautious, properly cautious, when the conditions get bad, particularly around ice,” said Peter Spurway, vice-president of communications for the airport.
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Some flights did manage to arrive depart. But if your flight was to a destination hard hit by the ice storm, you had to get comfortable, like one man who curled up on the seats for a nap.
The Halifax airport fared better than Toronto’s Pearson International Airport, which was particularly hard hit, notes Spurway.
Miranda Murray started her flight in Istanbul, Turkey and was delayed in New Jersey for two hours before departing for Halifax.
She ended up staying overnight at the airport, hoping to get to her final destination of St. John’s, Newfoundland, where the ice storm is now headed.
“I ended up arriving here pretty late and I missed my connecting flight,” said Murray. “I was supposed to get on a standby flight at 6:00 this morning. But all the flights, there were three or four flights, got cancelled.”
Adam Clarke is taking the situation in stride; he passed the time with his guitar while waiting for his sister to arrive from Edmonton.
“Snow. It’s Canada,” said Clarke.
“I’m just waiting for my sister to come in, but you know, that’s how it goes, you get delayed. It’s not that big of a deal, but I don’t know. Some people are stuck .”
If the weather co-operates, Spurway estimates it will be Christmas Eve before the backlog of passengers gets cleared up.
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