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Hurricane Lane forces cancellation of Vancouver-Hawaii flights

Hurricane Lane is making its presence felt on the island state. As Catherine Urquhart reports, some British Columbians are preparing for the storm to make landfall – Aug 23, 2018

With Hurricane Lane bearing down on Hawaii, a number of Vancouver-based flights to and from the tropical state have been cancelled.

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WestJet has cancelled all regular flights in and out of Hawaii for August 23 and August 24.

WATCH: British Columbians coming home and heading to Hawaii

However, it did add two extra flights out of the state on Thursday, one from Honolulu and one from Maui to get customers out of the hurricane’s path.

“WestJet is in the process of contacting guests who were to fly out of both islands [Thursday] evening to let them know that an earlier departure has been scheduled on the recovery flights,” said the company in an email.
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READ MORE: Canadians warned to avoid Hawaii travel as Hurricane Lane approaches

“Guests from Friday’s flights are also being contacted and will be re-booked on extra flight segments this weekend when it is safe to resume flying, post-hurricane.”

WATCH: Weather officials say Hurricane Lane strength diminishing

The following WestJet flights have been cancelled:

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August 23

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  • WS1864 from Vancouver to Honolulu
  • WS1865 from Honolulu to Vancouver
  • WS1852 from Vancouver to Kahului
  • WS1853 from Kahului to Vancouver

August 24

  • WS1864 from Vancouver to Honolulu
  • WS1865 from Honolulu to Vancouver
  • WS1852 from Vancouver to Kahului
  • WS1853 from Kahului to Vancouver

Meanwhile, Air Canada said it only has one scheduled flight to the state on Thursday, a Vancouver-Maui return, which has been pushed forward in order to avoid the hurricane.

WATCH: Hawaii bracing for Hurricane Lane’s impact

It says it has one flight scheduled for Friday, a Vancouver-Honolulu return, and is closely monitoring the weather in order to decide the timing of that flight.

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The company is allowing passengers to re-book Hawaiian flights with no penalty if they bought their ticket before August 21, for a period of travel ending before August 26.

The inbound storm wasn’t enough to stop some locals from hopping an island-bound plane.

“I went online and checked, United has all their flights going through San Fransisco through L.A. into Kahului, so I think it’s going to be okay,” one traveller told Global News.

“We know someone who’s there on the island, so they’re going to get some supplies for us and we’re just going to ride the wave, no pun intended,” said another.

WATCH: WestJet sends recovery flights to Hawaii before Hurricane Lane hits

Meanwhile, one passenger returning from Hawaii said many on the island were clearing out.

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“The airport’s a gong show. I was just overhearing people in the lineups which were huge saying, ‘Yeah, we were staying longer, but we’re just jumping flights and getting out as fast as we can,'” he said.

“So I think a lot of people are just bailing on their holiday plans.”

Earlier this week, the federal government urged Canadians not to travel to Hawaii with the Category 4 hurricane approaching the state.

On its website, it urged that all “non-essential travel” be avoided.

You can find up-to-date information on Hurricane Lane here.

*With files from Emily Lazatin and Maham Abedi

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