Sandy Flight Cancellations: Storm Causes Travel Delay Ripple Effect Across Canada

Superstorm Sandy has battered Canada's East Coast, but its effect on travel has already spread to other parts of the country.

Out west, officials at the Edmonton International Airport are expecting fallout in the form of delays and cancellations as the massive storm system works its way through parts of Quebec, Ontario and the Maritimes.

Flights coming directly from Toronto are expected to reach Edmonton without any trouble, but those flying from the East Coast and connecting with Toronto’s Pearson International Airport could face a bit of a headache, reports The Edmonton Journal.

In Calgary, WestJet has already scrapped evening flights from Calgary to Toronto, as well as Hamilton, along with a flight from Edmonton to Toronto. Air Canada has followed suit, cancelling a Newark-bound flight Monday and axing a United Airways flight to Chicago.

Aiport Chaos Spread To Twitter. Story Continues Below:

At the Ottawa Airport, the story of the day from travellers is very much the same to that of Monday’s slew of cancellations. As of Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. there were 42 cancelled flights — 24 arriving and 18 departing to U.S. cities like Washington, Newark, Detroit, Philadelphia, Boston and New York, who have closed their airports after being walloped by Sandy.

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Travellers at Trudeau International Airport in Montreal faced similar results as almost 100 flights have been cancelled as of noon on Tuesday to many of the same destinations. Earlier in the day, representatives at Pearson Airport tweeted out that roughly 25 per cent of its flights were cancelled. That works out to be about 168 inbound flights and 185 outbound flights, reports the National Post.

Would-be flyers hoping to escape directly from Toronto are also out of luck, as Toronto’s Billy Bishop Airport has also cancelled most of its flights, according to CBC. The bulk of the cancellations are due to a suspension of service from Porter Airlines. The suspension is set to end at 3:00 p.m. Tuesday for allow for a reassessment of flying conditions.

Airlines are strongly urging travellers to check ahead of time with their carriers if planning to fly today or Wednesday.