Kelowna International Airport is a Canadian airport located approximately 10 minutes or northeast of

Kelowna Kelowna ( ) is a city on Okanagan Lake in the Okanagan, Okanagan Valley in the British Columbia Interior, southern interior of British Columbia, Canada. It serves as the head office of the Regional District of Central Okanagan. The name Kelowna ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, Canada, on

Highway 97 Route 97, or Highway 97, may refer to: Australia – Olympic Dam Highway, South Australia Canada * British Columbia Highway 97 ** British Columbia Highway 97A ** British Columbia Highway 97B ** British Columbia Highway 97C ** British Colu ...

. The single runway airport operates scheduled air service to

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

, Prince George,

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, as well as less frequent seasonal service to

Cancún Cancún is the most populous city in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, located in southeast Mexico on the northeast coast of the Yucatán Peninsula. It is a significant tourist destination in Mexico and the seat of the municipality of Benito J ...

Puerto Vallarta Puerto Vallarta ( or simply Vallarta) is a Mexican resort city near the Bahía de Banderas on the Pacific coast of the Mexico, Mexican state of Jalisco. Puerto Vallarta is the second largest urban agglomeration in the state after the Guadalajara ...

Los Cabos LOS, or Los, or LoS may refer to: Science and technology * Length of stay, the duration of a single episode of hospitalisation * Level of service (transportation), Level of service, a measure used by traffic engineers * Level of significance, a ...

, and Phoenix. Currently, the airport handles up to 36 commercial departures a day, or approximately 248 departures per week. Three major airlines serve the airport:

Air Canada Air Canada is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Canada, by size and passengers carried. Air Canada is headquartered in the borough of Saint-Laurent in the city of Montreal. The airline, founded in 1937, provides scheduled and cha ...

Alaska Airlines Alaska Airlines is a major American airline headquartered in SeaTac, Washington, within the Seattle metropolitan area. It is the fifth-largest airline in North America when measured by scheduled passengers carried, as of 2024. Alaska, togethe ...

, and

WestJet WestJet Airlines, is a Canadian airline headquartered in Calgary, Alberta. Founded in 1994, it is the second-largest airline in Canada and the eighth-largest airline in North America by frequency. It began operations in 1996 with 220 employee ...

. In 2018, YLW overtook

Victoria International Airport Victoria International Airport serves Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. It is north northwest of Victoria on the Saanich Peninsula, with the bulk of the airport (including the passenger terminal) in North Saanich, British Columbia, North Saa ...

to become Canada's 10th busiest airport by passenger traffic with 2,080,372, representing a 9.9% increase over 2017.

History

In 1946, a plebiscite was held which authorized the city of Kelowna to purchase the 320-acre Dickson Ranch for $20,000. The airport was opened in 1947 with a 3,000 foot long grass airstrip and a small terminal. Commercial service first began in 1958 by

Canadian Pacific Airlines Canadian Pacific Air Lines was a Canadian airline that operated from 1942 to 1987. It operated under the name CP Air from 1968 to 1986. Headquartered at Vancouver International Airport in Richmond, British Columbia, it served domestic Canadian ...

to Vancouver. In 1960, the runway was paved and extended to 5,350 feet. Through the 1960s and 1970s the airport continued to be expanded with a new terminal building, an air traffic control tower, and an onsite weather office. From the late 1960s to the mid 1980s,

Pacific Western Airlines Pacific Western Airlines (PWA) was an airline that operated scheduled flights throughout western Canada and charter services around the world from the 1950s through the 1980s. In 1987, PWA purchased Canadian Pacific Air Lines, and the merged a ...

was the primary passenger air carrier serving the airport with

Boeing 737-200 The Boeing 737 is an American narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Renton factory in Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retained the 707 fuselage width and six abreast seating ...

jetliners on nonstop and direct flights between Kelowna and

and other small cities in

with the airline also operating

Convair 640 The Convair CV-240 is an American airliner that Convair manufactured from 1947 to 1954, initially as a possible replacement for the ubiquitous Douglas DC-3. Featuring a more modern design with cabin pressurization, the 240 series made some in ...

and

de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter The de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter is a Canadian STOL (Short Takeoff and Landing) utility aircraft developed by de Havilland Canada in the mid-1960s and still in production today. Built by De Havilland Canada from 1965 to 1988, Viking ...

turboprops as well as

Douglas DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by the Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper ...

and

Piper Navajo The Piper PA-31 Navajo is a family of twin-engined low-wing tricycle gear utility aircraft designed and built by Piper Aircraft for small cargo and feeder airlines, and as a corporate aircraft. Production ran from 1967 to 1984. It was licen ...

prop aircraft on regional flights. By 1985, Pacific Western had become an all-jet airline and was operating up to sixteen departures a day with the Boeing 737-200 from Kelowna including direct, no change of plane service to

. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s commercial and cargo traffic increased, necessitating more than $10 million of investment in upgrades to the terminal building, runway and airline operating facilities. In 1996, Greyhound Air was flying daily nonstop service to its hub in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

with direct one stop service to

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Hamilton has a 2021 Canadian census, population of 569,353 (2021), and its Census Metropolitan Area, census metropolitan area, which encompasses ...

, with

Boeing 727-200 The Boeing 727 is an American narrow-body airliner that was developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After the heavier 707 quad-jet was introduced in 1958, Boeing addressed the demand for shorter flight lengths from smaller airp ...

jetliners operated by local company Kelowna Flightcraft Air Charter (now

KF Cargo Kelowna Flightcraft Air Charter trading as KF Cargo and Kelowna Flightcraft trading as KF Maintenance and Engineering is a cargo airline based in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. It operates long term cargo charters for couriers and freight c ...

). Also in 1996,

was operating nonstop

jet service to Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver and

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Gre ...

, as well as direct one stop 737 service to Regina. In 1998, a $20 million expansion program doubled the size of the terminal building, increased parking, and expanded airside facilities to accommodate the projected 1 million passengers by 2011. By 1999, five airlines were serving Kelowna:

Air BC Air BC was a Canadian regional airline headquartered in Richmond, British Columbia, Richmond, British Columbia, Canada. It later became part of Air Canada Jazz. This regional airline primarily flew turboprop aircraft but also operated jets as we ...

with

code sharing A codeshare agreement, also known simply as codeshare, is a business arrangement, common in the aviation industry, in which two or more airlines publish and market the same flight under their own airline designator and flight number (the "airli ...

flights on behalf of

Central Mountain Air Central Mountain Air Ltd. is a Canadian regional airline based in Smithers, British Columbia, Smithers, British Columbia. It operates scheduled, charter, and transborder services. Its main base is Smithers Airport, with other bases at Calgary I ...

with code sharing flights also on behalf of Air Canada,

Canadian Regional Airlines Canadian Regional Airlines was a regional airline headquartered in Calgary International Airport in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It is now part of Air Canada Jazz. History Historical fleet Time Air operated Fokker F28 Fellowship twin jets (se ...

with code sharing flights including

Fokker F28 Fellowship The Fokker F28 Fellowship is a twin-engined, short-range jet airliner designed and built by Netherlands, Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker. Following the Fokker F27 Friendship, an early and commercially successful turboprop-powered regional air ...

jet service on behalf of

Canadian Airlines Canadian Airlines International Ltd. (stylized as Canadi›n Airlines or Canadi‹n Airlines, or simply Canadian) was a major Canadian airline that operated from 1987 until 2001. The airline was Canada's second largest airline after Air Canada ...

Horizon Air Horizon Air is an American regional airline headquartered in SeaTac, Washington, within the Seattle metropolitan area. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Alaska Air Group and it is paid by fellow group member Alaska Airlines to staff, ope ...

with code sharing flights on behalf of

, and

with the latter air carrier continuing to operate Boeing 737-200 jets on all of its flights at this time.

Terminal facilities

The main terminal building is a full-service facility covering approximately . There are 10 aircraft loading positions, half of which are fitted with

jet bridge A jet bridge is an enclosed connector which most commonly extends from an airport terminal gate to an airplane, and in some instances from a port to a boat or ship, allowing passengers to board and disembark without heading outside and being exp ...

s. The arrivals area contains three

baggage carousel A baggage carousel is a device, generally at an airport, that delivers checked luggage to the passengers at the baggage reclaim area at their final destination. Airports without carousels generally deliver baggage by placing it on the floor or ...

s, one of which can be cordoned off to accommodate international/US arrivals (and remaining two for domestic arrivals) and Canadian Customs processing. (The airport has a CATSA pre-board screening area, but not US pre-boarding clearance zone.) The departure lounge features a wired business centre and complimentary wireless Internet. The airport's focal point is a glass rotunda which contains a fountain and the cylindrical glass sculpture "Escape from Stella Polaris" and Skyway Atrium Lounge. Kelowna Art Gallery operates a satellite site at the airport. A small observation area is located on the mezzanine level.

Airlines and destinations

Key destinations from the airport are the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...

(United States and Canada),

Western Canada Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces, Canadian West, or Western provinces of Canada, and commonly known within Canada as the West, is a list of regions of Canada, Canadian region that includes the four western provinces and t ...

Northern Canada Northern Canada (), colloquially the North or the Territories, is the vast northernmost region of Canada, variously defined by geography and politics. Politically, the term refers to the three Provinces_and_territories_of_Canada#Territories, terr ...

, and

Eastern Canada Eastern Canada (, also the Eastern provinces, Canadian East or the East) is generally considered to be the region of Canada south of Hudson Bay/ Hudson Strait and east of Manitoba, consisting of the following provinces (from east to west): Newf ...

, as well as seasonal connections to the

Southwestern United States The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural list of regions of the United States, region of the United States that includes Arizona and New Mexico, along with adjacen ...

and

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Passenger

Cargo

Statistics

Annual traffic

Ground transportation

Cars, buses and taxis can connect to the airport for Kelowna via

. The airport has an outdoor parking lot next to the terminal and some short term spaces near the terminal building.

Public transit

The airport is serviced by Kelowna Regional Route 23 and Vernon Regional Route 90 (rush hour service only) buses, which connect Vernon and

Lake Country Lake Country is a district municipality with a population of approximately 15,000 in the Okanagan Valley region of British Columbia, Canada. It is a part of the Central Okanagan Regional District, and of the Kelowna metropolitan area. The city o ...

with UBC Okanagan Exchange in Kelowna. The airport is not served by the bus on evenings and weekends. Passengers heading to downtown Kelowna or West Kelowna can transfer to 97X Kelowna RapidBus at UBC Okanagan Exchange.

Future expansion

In 2006, the Kelowna International Airport Advisory Committee created the Master Plan 2025, a document dedicated to the expansion of the Kelowna International Airport. The Plan is expected to cost approximately $150 million. Due to YLW's unprecedented growth, a Master Plan was required to aid in keeping the airport at modern traffic handling standards. By 2008, the airport lengthened the single runway to , and plans to lengthen to by 2025. Also, the passenger terminal has been expanded so as to allow hourly processing of 680 passengers in 2015, and will be further expanded as to allow 900 passengers by 2025. Currently, the hourly rate is approximately 400 passengers. In order to do this, the terminal size will be nearly doubled, and a 2,400 space parkade will be constructed. Also, to reduce vehicular traffic congestion, a diamond overpass/underpass interchange will be constructed at the current intersection of Highway 97 and Airport Way.City of Kelowna (July 3, 2006). '' ''. Retrieved on March 26, 2007 A hotel is now being built on site next to the terminal.

Accidents and incidents

*October 13, 2016: Former Alberta premier

Jim Prentice Peter Eric James Prentice (July 20, 1956 – October 13, 2016) was a Canadian politician who served as the 16th premier of Alberta from 2014 to 2015. In the 2004 federal election he was elected to the House of Commons of Canada as a candida ...

was among the four people killed in a small-plane crash in British Columbia that took off from Kelowna Airport. Prentice, 60, was aboard a twin-engine Cessna Citation that disappeared from radar shortly after takeoff from Kelowna, en route to the Springbank Airport, just outside Calgary. *August 18th 2023: The airspace surrounding Kelowna International Airport had been closed to allow aerial fire-fighting activity for the wildfires in the Kelowna area.

History

Terminal facilities

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Cargo

Statistics

Annual traffic

Ground transportation

Public transit

Future expansion

Accidents and incidents

See also

References

External links