Early bird catches the plane

Passengers urged to show up two hours early for morning flights at Charlottetown Airport

Catching an early flight at the Charlottetown Airport just got a whole lot earlier.

The Charlottetown Airport Authority is advising passengers travelling in the mornings to arrive two hours prior to their departure due to a higher than expected volume.

Longer wait times at security screening may be experienced, particularly for flights departing prior to 9 a.m.

The authority notes that both Air Canada and WestJet have a strict 45-minute cut-off time for domestic flights so passengers are recommended to arrive well before this cut-off time to allow time for check-in and security screening.

The Charlottetown Airport Authority is recommending that passengers arrive early for their departure and proceed through security screening as soon as possible after check-in.

Passengers can arrive 90 minutes early for flights after 9 a.m.

Air Canada Rouge flights now have two flights leaving early each morning: one at 5:45 a.m. for Toronto, the other at 6:35 a.m. for Montreal. WestJet will add a 6:45 a.m. flight to Toronto on June 30.

Charlottetown Airport Authority CEO Doug Newson told The Guardian he has not received any direct feedback from travellers about arriving two hours before a flight.

“I guess what we would say is this is kind of our advice for people because it is going to be a busy summer,’’ he says.

“I know it’s an early time to ask people to arrive at the airport. The reality is if everybody shows up 45 minutes prior to departure it will be a challenge.’’

Newson says some days there will be upwards of 500 travellers flying out of Charlottetown over a one-hour period each morning starting at the end of June.

“The last thing we want to see is people missing flights,’’ he adds.