Vancouver airport restricting international flights for 2 days to clear backlog after snowstorm

The number of international flights allowed to land in Vancouver will be restricted over two of the busiest travel days of the year as the airport works to clear a backlog of planes following widespread delays and cancellations during a snowstorm on Tuesday. Vancouver International Airport (YVR) said the decision affects more than two dozen international flights scheduled to land between Wednesday and Friday, just ahead of the Christmas weekend. "A significant number of aircraft remain at YVR [after the snowstorm], which has led to congestion on our airfield and limited our ability to facilitate arriving and departing flights," read a statement from the airport on Wednesday. "Our focus is to depart aircraft from the airport and get crews and passengers safely on their way. Therefore, we will be temporarily limiting arriving international flights for approximately 48 hours." The airport temporarily suspended operations after an unusually heavy snowfall across B.C.'s South Coast on Monday night through Tuesday morning, leading to hundreds of cancelled or delayed flights. Both days were expected to be some the airport's busiest of the year, with more than 134,000 combined travellers passing through. In an interview on Wednesday, YVR's vice president said the airport was back to about 60% of its typical operating levels as of midday, but the situation won't be fully back to normal for days. <br/>