Kelowna airport still flying high

KELOWNA – The city-owned Kelowna International Airport continues to do well, with most indicators on the rise.

Airport manager Sam Samadar, in a report to city councillors, will show traffic continues to grow and will so for some time.

Some 1.6 million passengers got on or off a plane in Kelowna in 2014, right in the middle of passenger projections. In 2025, as many as 2.9 million passengers could pass through the terminal.

Domestic traffic continues to dominate airport usage with the majority of passenger traffic coming from Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary and Edmonton accounting for over two/thirds of passengers.

Kelowna has 20 non-stop destinations with just under 20,000 seats on outwardbound flights each week from eight airlines. The closest airport of similar size is Saskatoon with 22 flights holding 19,000 outbound seats on eight different airlines.

The average fare in Kelowna was just under $300 in 2014 comparied to about $220 across the country.

Airport tenants paid $1.1 million in property taxes to the city in 2014 plus a similar amount for other ancilliary services, part of $2.5 million paid into the city’s general revenue fund.

The airport is entering phase two of a long-term airport redevelopment plan. It will see renovations to the baggage hall in 2016, adminstration offices in 2017 and completion of the airport concourse in 2018.

The airport just secured a long-term extension of its land lease until 2054.

City councillors will receive the Kelowna International Airport briefing at its regular morning meeting beginning 9 a.m. Monday, Sept. 14, 2015 at Kelowna City Hall.

To contact the reporter for this story, email John McDonald at jmcdonald@infonews.ca or call 250-808-0143. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.