New road at Kelowna airport named after long-time politician Al Horning

Kelowna International Airport is what it is today, in part, because of the efforts of Al Horning when he was an MP for what was once called the Okanagan Centre riding.

A future road that will connect the south end of the airport to the Rutland neighbourhood where the Horning family has lived for decades will be named in his honour, according to a City of Kelowna media release issued today, Feb. 6.

In 1990, while serving as a Member of Parliament, he successfully lobbied the federal government for a 2,000 foot extension to the airport runway, bringing it to 7,300 feet.

“WestJet started service in Kelowna in 1996 because of that longer runway, which resulted in phenomenal passenger growth and put YLW on the trajectory to becoming the 10th busiest airport in the country,” airport director Sam Samaddar said in the release. The city doesn’t say when the road will be built.

Horning, a champion snowmobile racer and baseball enthusiast, convinced the city to donate land and joined with other volunteers to build King Stadium on it.

He graduated from Rutland Secondary School and attended UBC. He was first elected to Kelowna city council in 1990 where he served until he was elected as MP in 1988. He was MP until 1993 when he was defeated by Werner Schmidt. Horning was re-elected to city council in 2002 then was the Kelowna-Lake Country MLA from 2005-09.

“Al Horning is the epitome of a community builder, serving his community in many ways – from Parliament Hill to the ball diamonds of Rutland,” Mayor Tom Dyas said in the release. “Al has spent his entire life working to improve his neighbourhood and his city.”

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