Friday likely busiest travel day during pandemic so far

Pearson International Airport is expecting Friday to be the busiest travel day so far during the pandemic — and asks travellers to be patient and arrive early for their March break journeys.

Pearson is projecting about 85,000 passengers will arrive or depart at the airport on March 11, according to the airport’s website. That compares to 145,000 passengers for the Friday before March break in 2019.

Even though travel restrictions have eased, it doesn’t mean the travel experience has returned to what it was, according to Pearson’s website: “For the March break period, delays are possible and longer wait times are to be expected due to many COVID-19 health measures still in place.”

Pearson is advising travellers to arrive at the airport 90 minutes ahead of time for domestic flights and three hours for international flights.

While Pearson is working closely with airlines and government agencies to ensure efficient travel, passengers should be aware it is facing staffing challenges like many other sectors.

There will also be longer waits for check-in, security and boarding due to health checks, according to the airport’s website.

Although the federal government has eased testing requirements for fully vaccinated travellers, airlines like WestJet are still finding the demand to travel remains lower than it was prior to the pandemic.

“There is still a long way to go, as we are currently operating approximately 350-plus flights a day in comparison to 700-plus pre-pandemic,” said Morgan Bell, a spokesperson for WestJet.

There has been some uptick in bookings for spring break travel and long-term travel, however, she added.

Fully vaccinated travellers to Canada have to provide a either prearrival COVID-19 antigen test taken no more than a day before the flight, or a molecular test taken no more than 72 hours prior to the flight, according to the airport’s website.