Airport records millionth passenger a month early

KELOWNA – It’s another sign the Okanagan tourism season this summer has been a good one.

The Kelowna International Airport hit the 1,000,000 passenger mark at the end of August. There were 1,001,294 passengers, to be exact.

“In 2005, we reached our first millionth passenger that year around Dec. 10, last year it was mid-September,” airport director Sam Samaddar said. “To top that number this year in August was a surprise.”

“It coincides with the great tourist season felt throughout the valley this July and August,” Samaddar added.

Every month this year has seen record-breaking numbers of passengers flowing through the Kelowna Airport. July and August was the busiest summer in YLW history. About 14,000 arrrived or departed from the terminal.

“The tourist season in the summer is typically strong,” according to Tourism Kelowna CEO Nancy Cameron. “However this summer we saw our tourist numbers increase right through to the end of the Labour Day weekend.”

To contact the reporter for this story, email halexander@infotelnews.ca or call 250-491-0331.