Bomb threats cause nationwide flight delays, now back to normal

Travellers across Canada see delays into Thursday evening, after air traffic was halted briefly following bomb threats at several major airports across the country.

While operations continued at Hamilton and Pearson International, NAV Canada says the threats affected airports in Ottawa, Montreal, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Calgary and Vancouver where all ground traffic was briefly halted.

NAV Canada, which provides air traffic control operations to Canadian airports, says several of its sites were evacuated early Thursday morning while police investigated.

Regular operations have now resumed at all six airports impacted but there are still plenty of delays. According to the Ottawa airport’s departures online, there are still a dozen flights behind schedule anywhere from 15 minutes to a couple of hours, while four were cancelled entirely.

One passenger at the airport says he found out about the threat while waiting in line for security for his flight back home to Vancouver.

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“I did my usual late arrival, then got some food. I went to check in. Between checking in and getting to the security gate, they told me my flight was cancelled, no info, that was it, then I had to figure it out,” the stranded passenger says.

“I’m not worried about it, these things are almost never real. I guess for security, the extra juice is worth the squeeze, maybe it’s a real thing. I basically just need someone to pick me up from the airport now.”

NAV Canada says passengers should check in directly with their airline before heading to the airport, as some delays may continue. Several flights are delayed coming out of Pearson to the impacted airports as well.

The investigation into the bomb threats is on-going and NAV Canada says it can’t comment on the exact nature of the threat in the meantime.

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