Penticton getting second WestJet flight

PENTICTON – Tourism Penticton received some good news as the organization welcomes its new executive director. WestJet is adding a second flight to the Peach City.

The flight will be added to WestJet's schedule in mid-February, 2016, according to outgoing executive director Chris Bower.

Bower says the new flight will depart the Penticton Airport at 7 a.m. and arrive in Calgary at 9 a.m.

“This is in addition to the present 2 p.m. afternoon flight,” he says. "The new flight will depart Calgary at 8:45 p.m., crews will overnight in Penticton, with the flight departing at 7 a.m. the following day.”

Bower says the extra flight provides a three-way benefit to Penticton by providing tourists with an extra flight to WestJet's hub in Calgary; by providing residents with an extra opportunity to make connecting flights world wide; and by providing another connection for business travellers to the Calgary market.

"We've had a good connection with Vancouver through our Air Canada flights. It really affects our economy, so this is a next step," he says.

WestJet is accepting bookings for the new flight for travel dates starting on Feb. 15, 2016.

Bower made the announcement while introducing Kelly Hopkins, his replacement at Tourism Penticton.

Hopkins is no stranger to tourism in Penticton, having garnered experience in local marketing and events management through her previous work with Challenge Penticton and Recreation Penticton.

She’ll be busy this fall, as two large tourism projects are scheduled for later this year. The Go-Media conference will see the city visited by 300 top Canadian and International members of the travel media. The conference takes place at the end of September.

A new event, the Salmon Festival, is also being launched in October, in partnership with Aboriginal Tourism British Columbia.

To contact the reporter for this story, email Steve Arstad at sarstad@infonews.ca or call 250-488-3065. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.