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VIDEO: Cancellations and delays galore at Kelowna airport

Maris Fraser and Scott Bennett had their fingers crossed at Kelowna International Airport this morning.

They're hoping to fly from Kelowna to Calgary to Ottawa today for Christmas.

"Well, we have boarding passes, so that's a good sign," said Fraser.

"Some people don't have boarding passes because their flights are outright cancelled. Our flight to Calgary is delayed at this point, but it is delayed. Hopefully it goes and we can make it to Calgary so we can make it to Ottawa."

Fraser and Bennett were two of the lucky ones at the airport because at least they had hope.

</who>Maris Fraser and Scott Bennett are hoping to fly from Kelowna to Calgary and onto Ottawa today for Christmas.

With 29 flight cancellations so far today at the airport that leaves hundreds of people scrambling to rebook.

With it being so close to Christmas, all flights over the next four days are full, so rescheduling is a nightmare.

It's a situation that means some people may not get to where they hoped to fly by Christmas, according to Kelowna airport director Sam Samaddar.

Christmas week is the busiest time of the year at Kelowna airport with up to 8,000 passengers taking off and arriving daily.

That number has been severely cut with the cancellations over the past few days.

Despite the crisis, the terminal at Kelowna airport was eerily quiet.

Airlines had emailed and texted passengers early to notify them of the cancellations, so many people didn't even bother to show up at the airport.

Three planes that overnighted at Kelowna airport did take off this morning -- two Edmonton and one to Calgary.

After hours of delay, the WestJet flight to Cancun did take off mid-day (yippee, Mexico, here we come) as did a WestJet to Edmonton.

Otherwise, the majority of flights in and out were cancelled not just because of bad visibility, heavy snow and frigid temperatures here, but at airports in Vancouver, Victoria, Prince George, Edmonton and Calgary.

Flights listed as delayed may eventually land or take off or may end up being cancelled.

That's why you're asked to keep an eye on the ever-changing arrivals and departures information at YLW.Kelowna.ca if you're supposed to be flying or expecting someone.

</who>Kelowna International Airport director Sam Samaddar.

The Colen family from Australia just enjoyed skiing at Big White Resort before coming to the airport to discover their flight to Edmonton to join friends for Christmas was cancelled.

They were considering renting a car and driving to Edmonton.

However, the highways -- north, west, east and south -- are also in bad shape because of the blowing snow and poor visibility.

After her non-stop flight to Calgary was cancelled on Sunday, Amber Sharpe was back at Kelowna airport today hoping to catch a plane to Vancouver and then Calgary.

"I was given no reason for the initial cancellation, I wasn't put up in a hotel here by the airline and I don't know if I'm even going to get out of here today," she said.



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