Clearance and waiting times at Canada’s busiest airport will only get worse as the summer season approaches, unless the federal government makes some changes, Toronto International Airport operator Pearson warned on Thursday.
“This is a really difficult situation today and it will become unsustainable because we estimate about 45,000 international arrivals a day this summer,” said Craig Bradbrook, chief operating officer of the Toronto Airport Authority (GTAA), in an interview with CP24.
He noted that the airport receives an average of 30,000 international arrivals.
People flying to and from Toronto Pearson reported long waiting times and security packs, going to social media to post pictures of the bands.
The airport said departing passengers could face delays in an in-flight security check by the Canadian Air Security Authority. The Crown news agency said it was experiencing staffing issues that are currently being addressed.
“They really need to try to fix that. And I think they’re working on that. And we’ve been assured that everything is being done,” Bradbrook said.
“And we, as an airport, will obviously be working with them and our partner airlines to ensure that passengers have the best possible experience in the current circumstances.”
Toronto Pearson experienced a long wait for a security check on May 2. (Twitter / @MatthewGreenNDP)
The airport added that the US Customs and Border Protection, which deals with pre-departure clearance for all US destinations, also deals with staffing issues.
The airport, meanwhile, said it was testing a large number of incoming passengers, which, in addition to the necessary health checks for COVID-19, delayed customs processing. It says arriving passengers can be told to wait on their planes or at a certain place.
Delays at @catsa_gc security checkpoints cause longer-than-expected formations. If you are flying from Pearson today, leave a lot of extra time and check the status of your flight with your airline or on our website before leaving for the airport.
– Toronto Pearson (@TorontoPearson) May 1, 2022
On Wednesday, the GTAA issued a statement calling on the federal government to review current travel rules and make changes to ease waiting times and prevent further delays.
These include streamlining or eliminating “legacy public health requirements” for arriving international passengers, ending random tests for COVID-19 on arrival, hiring more airport security inspectors, and engaging US staff to ensure that the capacity of pre-release sites is at pre-pandemic levels.
“We have moved to an observation position. “There are other ways we can achieve the same results without having to inconvenience passengers the way we are now,” Bradbrook said.
The GTAA advises domestic departing passengers to arrive at least two hours before the scheduled flight and international passengers to arrive at the airport at least three hours before departure.
“We certainly see that many passengers are happy now and want to travel again,” Transport Minister Omar Algabra said when asked about the situation. “So we are doing our best to respond to this as soon as possible.”
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