Olympic teams check in at Vancouver International Airport following the closing of the 2010 Winter Games on Sunday. (CBC)

With the 2010 Vancouver Olympics officially ending Sunday night, the region is ready for a mass exodus of athletes and spectators.

At Vancouver International Airport, lineups started earlier in the day as thousands headed home from the Games.

The airport expects record traffic on Monday, spokeswoman Rebecca Catley said.

"We're expecting about 39,000 people to depart Vancouver, which is going to be our busiest day ever," she said.

"There's a couple of things we've done [like] … off-site check-in at the Athletes Villages. So up to 24 hours before their flights depart, athletes can go to basically an extension of the airport both at Whistler and Vancouver to check in their bags [and] get their boarding passes."

Catley advised passengers to arrive four hours early on Monday and to check their flight status online before heading to the airport.

Extra ferries, trains

To get travellers to the airport, the Canada Line — which connects downtown Vancouver with the airport — will run all night after the closing ceremony.

Ten trains, with the capacity to move more than 3,300 passengers an hour, will run at six-minute intervals.

"All rail rapid-transit services are normally shut down for daily maintenance, which is why they do not run 24/7," said TransLink CEO Ian Jarvis.

"This is a very special circumstance. With so many people planning to fly out of Vancouver immediately after the Games we will leave 10 of Canada Line's trains running while the other 10 are prepared for regular service on March 1."

Heavy passenger loads are also expected on BC Ferries as spectators head back to Vancouver Island from the mainland. BC Ferries added 22 sailings through the weekend and on Monday on the Tsawwassen-Swartz Bay and Horseshoe Bay-Departure Bay routes.

Olympic road closures not over

Meanwhile, traffic in downtown Vancouver isn't expected to return to normal until at least Tuesday.

The Georgia and Dunsmuir viaducts — the two main routes in and out of downtown from the east — will still be closed Monday and possibly Tuesday.

Olympic lanes will also stay in effect through Monday.

Additional road closures also came into effect Sunday in anticipation of large pedestrian volumes and crowds in the area for the closing ceremony at BC Place and various celebration cites throughout the city.

The Cambie Street Bridge is closed to vehicle traffic until midnight Sunday night, as is Beatty Street between Smithe and Dunsmuir streets.

Pacific Boulevard between Homer and Drake streets is closed to vehicle traffic until 10 p.m., and the eastbound lane will remain closed until 6 a.m. Monday.