'Chaos' and 'travel hell': YVR bracing for influx of travellers as vaccine mandate ends

Vancouver International Airport is making preparations for an influx of travellers as industry experts warn more delays, not fewer, will be the result of the suspended vaccine mandate requirement for air travel.

On Monday, the federal government's vaccination requirement ended and Canadian airports didn't immediately see any alleviation nor worsening of wait times as a result of suspending vaccination verification – but they are bracing for a surge in demand. 

"Things are moving smoothly right now and (we're) working and hoping to keep it that way," said YVR communications manager Alyssa Smith, describing a co-ordinated approach between the airport and government agencies to try and avoid the return of delays. "We are expecting a busy airport, which is great for us, but we’re still not at 2019 levels."

With staff laid off or walking away from scant hours when air travel was heavily restricted, industry insiders warn it'll take time to get the right people in the right jobs – while demand is likely to spike much sooner.

"That’s going to put tremendous pressure on the infrastructure that we’re already seeing without these five million potential (unvaccinated Canadian) travellers, which is already causing clogs and traffic issues galore," said Martin Firestone of Travel Secure. “I don’t see anything other than chaos at this point — and it’s not limited to Canada, this is going around the entire world.”

While Canadian airports have largely managed lineups with messaging to arrive early, as well as pouring every available resource at staffing various aspects of their operations, their American counterparts were plagued with problems all weekend and other international destinations experienced similar backlogs and luggage snafus.

"I think that these problems will last into the early winter, possibly even into the middle of next year, because it just takes airlines time to hire and train critical employees like pilots," said airline industry analyst, Henry Hartveldt of Atmosphere Research Group. "So what does this mean? The summer of 2022 is going to be travel hell."

The ArriveCan app is still required for travellers entering Canada, whether they're citizens or not, and that means leaving the airport may become the next bottleneck. 

"Give yourself plenty of time to get yourself here and know the requirements of where you're going," emphasized Smith.

With COVID-19 hotspots flaring around the world and the federal government warning the vaccine mandate could be reinstated, coupled with the national labour shortage, Firestone suggested that the days of easy, carefree travel may be behind us. 

"Travel as we know it now, the new normal, is not what we knew it to be," he said.