Bellingham airport ‘never really affected by the snow,’ but Sunday flight canceled
Though Bellingham International Airport has remained open during Sunday’s winter weather and Monday’s chilly temperatures, Horizon/Alaska Airlines canceled flight 425 Sunday night because of winds, the airport reported.
“The airfield was never really affected by the snow, and we remained open all day,” Port of Bellingham Aviation Director Sunil Harman told The Bellingham Herald in an interview Monday.
Even when the airport remains open, Harman said airlines can cancel certain flights if conditions exceed their own wind tolerances, as was the case with Alaska’s decision to cancel flight 425 Sunday night.
Airport Operations Manager Emily Phillipe told The Herald that NOAA reported wind gusts at the airport reaching 46 mph Sunday night.
“Whenever there is extreme weather, we advise travelers check with airlines on their flight status and try to arrive early,” Harman said.
Phillipe told The Herald in an email that a pilot-controlled lighting system at the airport is out of service, but it is not impacting flights, as the airport is able to manually turn on airfield lights. The pilot-controlled system is usually used so that the lights can be turned up when the air traffic control tower is closed between 11:30 p.m. and 7 a.m.
Maintenance crews are currently working to determine the cause and repair the system so that lights can once again be controlled by pilots.
This story was originally published February 4, 2019 at 12:46 PM.
