Despite days of low lying fog, flights at Comox Valley Airport have continued with few interruptions, the operations manager said Tuesday.

While fog has prevented flights bound for the Comox Valley from leaving other airports, the instrument approach systems and high intensity lighting at 19 Wing have allowed the majority of flights to get through, said Ian Heselgrave, CVAC operations manager.

We've done terrifically well, given the circumstances, Heselgrave said.

We've really lost very few flights, he said.

He said most of the missed flights were because another airport has not been able to get the flight either out or in. No WestJet flights have been missed due to the weather, he said.

Heselgrave said the terminal is fortunate to have the systems from 19 Wing, including the wide 10,000 foot (3 km) long runway. It gives you lots of extra maneuvering room, he said.

Some small cargo flights have missed their schedules, he said, but the effect seems to be minor. The poor weather also forced some Pacific Coastal flights to re route to Campbell River, then shuttle passengers to the Comox Valley.

The lingering fog, which arrived Saturday, is only about 300 metres (1000 feet) thick, covering most of the Georgia Strait and into the Fraser Valley on the mainland. It's because it¹s such a stagnant air mass sitting under a ridge of high pressure, said Sgt. Richard Thomas, a weather briefer at 19 Wing.

The high pressure system was sitting over south eastern B.C. but the ridge stretches over Vancouver Island, he said. Late Wednesday the system began moving towards the U.S. lifting the fog.

We need some winds to start to pick some things up and mix the atmosphere up a bit, he said. By Thursday the valley had settled back to its natural state of overcast.

bmacfarlane@comoxvalleyecho.com