While some Canadians are welcoming a deep blanket of snow that will give the nation its first coast to coast white Christmas in 40 years, the wintry weather is also causing havoc at travel hubs all over the country.

From sea to icy sea, the weather has snarled airline travel, stranding travellers trying to get home or to a vacation spot on Christmas Eve

Much of the problems stemmed from chaos at Vancouver's airport, where three major snow storms in the last week have forced Air Canada to cancel many of its flights.

On Wednesday, the snowfall continued, and it was expected the city would get a year's worth of snow - about 55 centimetres - in only a few days.

Though crews worked to clear runways and kept the airport open, Air Canada was forced to cancel all of its short-range and medium-range flights in order to keep their longer routes open.

"We're concentrating on the long-haul flying," said airline spokesman Peter Fitzpatrick told CTV Newsnet. "We're only able to launch a certain number of aircraft due to the weather and the need to do things like de-ice the planes.

"We have to make a choice over what flights we're going to operate. And we fly the long-haul ones in these situations because once the weather improves, it's much easier to recover on the short-haul flying."

That means flights between Alberta and Vancouver - in both directions - have been cancelled.

The Air Canada announcement comes after days of cancellations and delays, and the Vancouver region's weather appears to be only getting worse.

"Total snowfall amounts of 15 to 25 centimeters are forecast before the snow tapers to a few flurries Thursday morning. Strong winds will also develop as the system approaches and visibility will be locally reduced in blowing snow," said a snowfall warning on Environment Canada's website.

Thirty centimetres fell in the greater Vancouver region on Sunday alone.

WestJet meanwhile, was struggling to keep service going and has called in their office staff to help deal with the travel backlogs.

WestJet spokesman Robert Palmer said the airline wanted to avoid even a few cancellations, because it would have a domino effect that would disrupt traffic across the country.

"We need to make sure that if we send a plane to Vancouver full of people that we can actually get it out of there," Palmer told The Canadian Press from Calgary. "If we send a couple of flights this afternoon and they get stuck in Vancouver, then we've hurt our entire operation."

"Most people have given up"

While some travellers have been stranded at the airport for four days, many of them are taking the cancellations and travel interruptions in stride, CTV BC's Stephen Smart reported Wednesday night.

"Most people, they say, 'well it's the snow, it's mother nature, what can be done of it?'"

Smart added that many stranded passengers had cleared out of the airport by Wednesday night, with some returning to their homes and others heading to nearby hotels.

"It just means that most people have given up," he said.

While Christmas Day is traditionally less busy in terms of flights, Smart said it's unlikely anyone will be able to get out Thursday.

"Tomorrow is a lighter travel day, so it may be a little better in terms of volumes," said Smart, but he added that the prognosis for many travellers still won't be any better because of the massive backlog.

"It's a tough thing to watch, especially at Christmas time."

The cancellation crisis

One flight passenger told told CTV News he and his daughter spent hours on the tarmac in Vancouver, waiting for their flight to depart for Toronto amid weather and volume-related delays.

"They put us on a plane and left us there for 11 hours without moving, and with the threat we would lose our flight if we got off the plane. And technically they said you can't get off the plane if you have bags," said traveller Larry Mickolwin.

"And then they left us sitting in the dark saying it would be more comfortable sitting there than in the lobby, and they just didn't have their act together, so they left us there for 11 hours, and then our flight, so we were there for 16 hours."

In Toronto, several days of falling snow have the city's road maintenance teams playing catch-up. The heavy snow has caused numerous delays at Pearson International Airport, with frustrated passengers trying to find alternate ways to make it home for Christmas.

Greater Toronto Airports Authority spokesperson Scott Armstrong told CTV.ca that conditions at Pearson International airport have improved significantly.

"Things are going well today," he said.

"We're looking at about 50 cancellations today. There were some delays this morning but they've cleared up. (But) you need to consider the airports at both ends of the flight."