Weekend winter storm causes delays, cancellations at Halifax airport

Donna Williamson was hoping to have a margarita in her hand Monday, but instead she has a shovel.

“We were going to Cuba, We were going to meet about 600 other Canadians there.”

The group was going to a music festival called Caribbean Goes Country. They were also bringing some much needed supplies with them.

“We were all taking 10 pounds of donations for the local schools and hospitals, and it was going to be seven days of just great music and great company,” Williamson says.

Williamson says her Sunwing flight is now booked for Thursday, that is if she can dig herself out by then.

The sheer amount of snow caused a number of delays and cancellations for anyone trying to fly out of the Halifax Stanfield International Airport.

“At Halifax Stanfield we’ve seen upwards of 60 cm of snow accumulate over the duration of the storm. We’re in a situation where snow actually needs to be removed because there’s nowhere for it to go,” says airport spokesperson, Leah Batstone.

The airport has seen 70 flights get cancelled from Friday to Sunday as a result.

“The flight schedules are determined by the airlines, so they decide whether or not the flight will be delayed or cancelled or potentially diverted,” Batstone says.

Ceilidh Young's flight to Fort Lauderdale was one of the flights that stayed grounded.

“I knew it was delayed until this morning and then I got up this morning and it got delayed and I was on my way here and it got delayed again,” Young told CTV News on Monday.

“We sat on the plane for three hours,” says another traveller, Laura Myers.

Myers drove through what she called blizzard-like conditions from Cow Bay in order to get to the airport early Saturday Morning. He flight was eventually cancelled too.

“It was full of kids, they were going to Orlando. They had their Mickey and Mini t-shirts on, they were so excited and the captain did say that there was going to be a one hour delay, and everyone kind of went ‘Aghhh’,” she says.

Full operations at the airport resumed around noon Monday, with airlines adding flights or upgrading aircraft to try to get people back on schedule.

Check out photos on snowfall across Atlantic Canada here.

For more Nova Scotia news visit our dedicated provincial page.