YXS Issues Holiday Travel Advice
Photo courtesy YXS
Prince George, B.C. – YXS has issued advice for those travelling by air this holiday season.
Communications manager Lindsay Cotter cautions passenger traffic increases significantly during the Christmas season right through to the second week of January (last year approximately 1,338 passengers enplaned and deplaned daily).
With that in mind, she recommends arriving at the airport 90 minutes before your flight is scheduled to depart.
“Especially if you’re travelling in the morning. This season we have three flights departing within 30 minutes of each other, starting at 6:00 am; that means up to 230 people need to check in and go through the passenger screening checkpoint.”
In addition, she says passengers can plan ahead by following these recommendations:
– Check the weather conditions in Prince George and at connecting airports and destinations, as poor conditions can significantly impact flight schedules. Check your airline’s website for the most up to date flight information.
– Check you airline’s website for baggage size, weight restrictions and costs associated with checking your bags.
– Place identification in both the inside and outside of your baggage. Be sure to check your bags to ensure prohibited items are not present (see “Pack Smart” section of CATSA’s website at http://www.catsa.gc.ca/whatcanIbring).
– If you’re travelling with gifts, leave them unwrapped. They may be opened by Screening Officials for inspection.
– To minimize the risk of damage or loss, don’t pack fragile or valuable items in checked baggage. Take them with you in carry-on baggage, or ship them to your destination instead.
– If you are given the option, check in online; it will save you time. Most airlines offer this service 24 hours before the departure of the flight.
Also of note, passengers flying from Prince George to other destinations will have to start paying a higher Airport Improvement Fee starting January 1, 2016.
Fees will increase by $5 for tickets purchased starting December 1, 2015, bringing the AIF at YXS to $25 (the last increase was in 2012).
Prince George Airport Authority president and CEO John Gibson told 250News back in October the increase is to help pay for the airport’s long term infrastructure capital needs, including repaving of runways, road rehabilitation and replacing aging emergency response vehicles and snow removal equipment.
Comments
Now if only we could get the airlines to enforce the size limits for carry on flights would be a lot more enjoyable.
The weird thing is, they seem actually to encourage people to take on extra carry on bags. I recently flew Toronto->Vancouver with two bags of carry-on size. When I tried to check one, they insisted that I carry it on! Not only does that crowd the plane, but it means that I have to lug it around and take it through security.
As a (former) frequent flyer out of YXS, there’s something that always puzzled me about this terminal. At every other airport baggage carousel I used, the practice is that passengers stand back from the carousel until they see their bags come around and then they step in and retrieve them. Not at YXS – people cram up to the carousel like hogs at feeding time and don’t budge till they have their luggage. Unless you’re one of those at the front of the throng, you haven’t a hope of even seeing your bags, much less picking them up, until the frenzy clears away.
$5750.00 just from the 6am.flights daily. Not a bad haul.
“Including repaving of runways”
You mean like the 10 year old white elephant that hasnt seen a single cargo plane land on it except for photo ops???
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