Here's how long passengers were stuck at Toronto Pearson Airport after huge storm

Toronto's biggest winter storm of the season buried the city in nearly 40 centimetres of snow on Thursday and left thousands of passengers stranded at Pearson Airport.

Data from flight tracking agency Flightaware shows a total of 539 flights were delayed and 343 flights were cancelled at Canada's biggest and busiest airport on Thursday.

Even some flights unaffected by the severe weather conditions that landed at Pearson Airport experienced significant delays in deplaning, forcing already travel-weary passengers to wait for hours on end inside their aircraft with gates visible out their windows.

Emirates flight EK241, a massive A380 aircraft travelling the Toronto-Dubai route, landed at Pearson Airport at 1:57 p.m. on Jan. 15 but did not arrive at the gate until 5:15 p.m., data shows. Passengers on board waited almost three and a half hours to get off the plane following a flight that had already stretched over 14 hours.

Emirates flight EK241 landed at Toronto Pearson Airport at 13:57 UTC but didn’t arrive at the gate until 17:15 UTC - meaning passengers waited more than 3 hours and 18 minutes to deplane. pic.twitter.com/P9Qf5OlRdf

— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) January 15, 2026

One passenger on flight AC841 from Frankfurt to Toronto aired their grievances on X after waiting almost three hours to deplane after the almost nine-hour flight.

I was on #AC841 and also took us close to 3 hours to deplane after landing here at @TorontoPearson today. Didn't get offered anything to drink, and only almost two hours in were allowed to use the bathrooms by @AirCanada staff. Thank you. 🙄

— Manuel (@Menni87) January 15, 2026

It's not just incoming flights that were impacted by the snowstorm – takeoffs also hit a snag. 

A passenger on flight AC1288 headed to Florida shared on X that their flight was delayed on the tarmac by five hours. Passengers boarded before the original 8 a.m. takeoff time and remained on the plane waiting for snow removal before finally taking off at 1 p.m. 

We were supposed to take off around 8am this morning. Ended up taking off at 1 pm. Stayed on the plane the whole time waiting for snow removal. Crew were great as were the passengers. ( Air Canada 1288)

— Kari 🇺🇸 🇩🇰 (@karihsquared) January 16, 2026

A similar situation occurred on an Air Canada flight to Orlando, and eager vacationers longing for sun and theme parks were left having to stay put inside the aircraft for five hours. One passenger notes on X that after boarding at 1:45 p.m., the plane didn't take off until 7 p.m. 

Jan 15, 2026
AirCanada Toronto to Orlando
Scheduled Departure: 12:03pm
Departed at 7pm
Boarding performed at 1:45pm
Passengers waited for 5 hours in plane

— Critic (@CriticRazor) January 16, 2026

More snow is expected to hit the city and surrounding regions on Friday, and flights at Pearson Airport are already facing disruptions with 156 delays and 95 cancellations reported as of publication Thursday morning.

Travellers are advised to check airlines for the latest flight status information as the situation develops.