How to stay grounded as YYC airport volume expected to soar 33%

The Calgary airport expects to see a lot more people this year, but it's still possible to keep your travel plans from going off the rails.

"Arrive really early, that's the key for us," seasoned traveller Jim Broere tells CBC News.

"It just reduces your stress level completely, because you never know what you are going to run into at the airline check-in or at security. Coming through Pearson at Toronto it was a complete gong show. It was tight."

And without a little planning, it could be tight at YYC too.

The airport authority is expecting a 33 per cent jump in volume this year between Dec. 16 and Jan. 5, 2020, spokesperson Reid Fiest said Monday.

That's almost a million people over the three-week period, up from about 750,000 over the same period last year.

That's 47,000 people a day.

The Friday before Christmas is usually the busiest day of the year, and this year the airport expects about 50,000 travellers.

Fiest says they are adding an extra security screening point in concourse B, and says a new central plane de-icing system should reduce wait times — and be more environmentally friendly because more of the solution can be recovered.

He offers three tips for saving time and stress at any time of year:

• Check flight information and status before you leave home.
• Leave lots of extra time to get to the airport and through screening.
• Know what can be carried on or must be checked.

And on top of that, breathe, says another frequent traveller.

"Always be patient," Colleen Soltermann said.

"It doesn't help if you get impatient and upset. There are a lot of people in the same boat that you are in."