One cancelled flight, six days of waiting, but home for Christmas

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This article was published 25/12/2022 (731 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

LLOYDMINSTER, Sask. – Louie Madlang says he’s happy to be celebrating Christmas with his son and daughter one day late after it took him six days to travel from Vancouver to Lloydminster, Sask.

Madlang, his wife, and five extended family members including three young kids, were part of the throngs of travellers stuck at the Vancouver International Airport when winter storms forced the cancellations of hundreds of flights.

It would be days — including several sleeping on the floor of the airport — before they were able to get on a flight to Edmonton Christmas afternoon and then drive several hours, arriving home at 8 p.m. that night.

“The long wait is over. I thought we were not going to make it, but we made it so I’m happy,” Madlang said on Boxing Day.

He was driving to pick up his son in Saskatoon and bring him back to Lloydminster where his daughter already is, so the family can celebrate Christmas together.

Madlang and his group were on their way home from a vacation in the Philippines on Dec. 19 when their connecting flight was cancelled and they spent days sleeping on the floor before Vancouver airport authorities gave them hotel rooms and food vouchers.

“I’m happy about that. I think they noticed that we were sleeping on the floor,” he said.

According to a statement from the airport, as part of a program launched Dec. 23 in response to the extreme weather, it has provided 646 passengers with nearly 400 free hotel rooms for up to four nights.

During the same period, 249 meal vouchers and 272 taxi vouchers have been handed out and 342 travellers used cots set up in the terminal.

The services run through Tuesday.

As of Monday morning, the airport reported it was operating at 97 per cent of originally scheduled flights

Madlang called his experience a “challenge” and said he’s relieved to be home.

“We’re going to celebrate Christmas together. The four of us — my daughter, my son, me and my wife — tonight, for sure.”

— By Ashley Joannou in Vancouver. With files from Nono Shen

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 26, 2022.