Maritime Christmas travellers face possible weather delays

Snow threatens Maritime holiday travel After a nor'easter struck the Maritimes last week, snow on Christmas Eve might complicate travel plans during Christmas.

The holidays are a time when families gather to make memories, which means it’s a busy and stressful time of year for travellers.

After a nor’easter caused delays and cancellations for Maritimers through the weekend, another snowy weather system is entering the region and threatening to cause further delays on Christmas eve.

“I watch the weather but once you have a flight booked, it's hard to try to change your plans,” says Karen Crooks who’s on her way to Ontario to visit friends. “Fingers crossed that it worked out today because if it worked out tomorrow that wouldn't be good.”

Leah Batstone is a communications manager at the Halifax Stanfield International Airport. She said they anticipated problems before the storm and the winter operations team is working round-the-clock to keep flights moving.

“They're here 24/7 so if there's a weather event, our full crew is out there working hard to keep the runways, the taxiways and the apron clear of snow,” Batstone said. “We had roughly 110 flights scheduled for Saturday and about 20 per cent of them were cancelled.”

Airlines added extra flights to clear a passenger backlog but Batstone said approximately 11,000 passengers pass through the airport each day over the holidays.

“We expect to see those numbers as well tomorrow and on Christmas Day.”

Joe Buchanan and his wife are on their way to Cancun, Mexico as part of their annual holiday tradition. They left Cape Breton a day early to catch their Halifax flight.

“I'm a fisherman so I'm always watching the forecast,” Buchanan says. “We were afraid of some crazy weather coming through and it's six hours from home.”

Batstone recommends those with flights on Tuesday should continue to monitor for updates.