Pearson Airport Says To Arrive Early As Some Passengers Are Experiencing Longer Wait Times
Some travellers shared photos of long lines at the airport recently.
There have been several updates to Canada's travel rules and that is apparently taking a toll on some travellers going out of Toronto Pearson Airport this week.
On December 2, one flier shared a picture online of long, winding lines at the airport and called Pearson a "total nightmare."
"If you're flying on an international flight, arrive 4 hours in advance. All passengers are queuing in the same line," the Twitter user wrote. "1:35 hrs to drop my bag and 40 min of security. My support to the few staff that are trying to organize the chaos."
Another Pearson passenger earlier on Thursday morning shared that the line-up for Gate 5 actually started up six gates later.
A spokesperson for the Greater Toronto Airport Authority told Narcity mornings are usually busy for departures. That, and "travel today can be more complicated given health requirements both in Canada and abroad."
Following the growing concerns of the new Omicron variant, the Canadian government placed travel restrictions that prevent travellers from Nigeria, Malawi, Egypt, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Lesotho, Namibia, Eswatini, and South Africa from coming into the country.
The federal government also states foreign nationals who have been to any of these countries within the last 14 days will not be allowed into Canada.
On top of that, all travellers (excluding those coming from the U.S.) are required to take a COVID-19 test as soon as they land - regardless of their vaccination status - and will have to isolate until they get their results.
"We work collaboratively with airlines and government agencies to process travellers as quickly as possible," Tori Gass, the spokesperson, said.
"At times, passengers are experiencing longer than normal processing times. We continue to recommend passengers arrive three hours ahead of time for international flights and 90 minutes ahead of time for domestic flights."
Pearson Airport has been recommending to travellers to plan ahead and arrive earlier for flights since the federal government updated its travel rules to welcome fully vaccinated fliers from across the globe who come to the Great White North.
