Vancouver International Airport / Aéroport international de Vancouver (YVR) is providing care and comfort for people who are waiting for their next flight or facing delays due to the extreme winter weather conditions. YVR is providing access to over 400 hotel rooms at local hotels, and restaurant gift cards for meals to passengers facing overnight delays. Passengers will be able to stay free-of-charge for up to four nights as they wait for their next flight.
“Our primary focus is to safely get passengers on their journey. When extreme weather disrupts those plans for extended periods of time, we understand that passengers face immense challenges – especially if they don’t call Vancouver home,” said Tamara Vrooman, President & CEO at Vancouver Airport Authority. “Importantly, hotel rooms secured for passengers do not take away from capacity for crew of our airline partners.”
Vrooman continued, “As much as we love our airport, it is not the ideal location to spend the night. We’d like to thank our local hotel operators and restaurants for working with us to book these rooms and meals so quickly.”
The hotel rooms and meal vouchers will be available from Friday December 23 through December 27.
In addition, YVR has set up a designated area in the terminal so that passengers who remain at the airport can be as comfortable as possible. This area is located in Level 3 departures (past US check-in) and it will have cots, blankets, hygiene kits, and other supplies available.
YVR staff and volunteers continue to assist passengers by distributing food, water, blankets, and handwarmers as well as other comfort items such as stuffed animals, toys and colouring books. Staff in the terminal have also played an important role providing passengers with information and whatever other assistance is required. So far, over 10,000 snacks have been handed out, along with over 15,000 water bottles and 1,500 blankets.
Passengers expecting to travel today should plan ahead and anticipate potential flight impacts as a result of the evolving storm.
Vrooman concluded, “Significant winter storms across Canada and the U.S. continue to impact travel through the holiday season. We recognize the challenges this creates for individuals and families. We are grateful to our passengers for their continued patience, and to our employees and entire airport community who are working tirelessly to help get them on their way.”
Latest information is available on YVR.ca and through Twitter: @YVRairport or @YVRaeroprt.