Love, excitement and emotional reunions as holiday travel hits its peak

Air Canada alone estimates it will move two million passengers over the holidays, with Dec. 19 to Dec. 23 being the peak period.

There was hardly anything left to do, even the family pets were tucked away, so Jocelyn Farrell came to the airport early — an hour early — to pick up her daughter.

"I'm completely overwhelmed," she said. "This is the longest we've ever been apart."

Her daughter — heading home and arriving at the St. John's airport — had just spent her first semester away at university in Alberta, studying for a computer science degree. And Farrell has been anxiously awaiting her adopted daughter's return.

"I've been cleaning and cooking and shopping and pacing the halls. I haven't slept, I didn't even sleep last night, I can't do it," she said.

"The last time I felt like this was the day they put her in my arms."

As each flight to the St. John's International Airport arrived on Thursday, another crush of family members crowded by the arrivals exit for a hug, a kiss or an excited reunion with their loved one.