As the amount of snow falling during Monday’s blizzard in Nova Scotia began to accumulate, so did the number of displaced travellers at Halifax Stanfield International Airport.
Around 40 centimeters of blowing snow fell in Enfield, N.S., grounding many flights and stranding passengers. A number of flights, especially those heading to Newfoundland and Cape Breton, were delayed or cancelled altogether.
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Halifax International Airport Authority spokesperson Peter Spurway said Tuesday although service disruptions are unpleasant, the flight schedule should be mostly back in order by day’s end.
“It’s not a really quick exercise for the airlines to get the airplanes back where they need to be,” he said. “In some cases they may chose to add a flight or a larger aircraft to make up some of the backlog.”
Peggy Best was travelling home from shopping for a wedding dress with her daughter when she was stranded. Aside from having to spend extra money to stay in a hotel, she is taking the delay in stride.
“I guess there’s nothing you can really do with the weather, right?” said Best, who is trying to get home to Happy Valley-Goose Bay, N.L. “Is it frustrating? Yeah, it’s frustrating, but you bear with it.”
While the delays can be an inconvenience to some, Brenda Baxendale feels lucky to have made it to the airport. She was heading home from Orlando, Florida when she found out at the gate that her flight had been cancelled.
“I’m so close to getting home,” she said. “We’ll just have to wait and see what happens today… Hopefully I’ll get home at some point, whether it be planes, trains or automobiles. I’ll be getting there somehow within the next 24 hours.”
By early afternoon, the scene outside the airport was looking much better, with runways that were almost completely clear and crews working to get rid of the last traces of snow.
“Our crews have been hard at it for the last 24 hours-plus, so our airfield is in very good shape and has been for several hours,” said Spurway.
Flights are still arriving and departing from the airport, but travellers are encouraged to check ahead with their airline in case of delays.