Pressure grows to reopen Kelowna Airport to international flights
CBC
Interior B.C. civic and tourism leaders say tens of millions of dollars in revenue and post-pandemic regional economic recovery are at risk unless the federal government restores international flights to Kelowna International Airport (YLW).
"The international flights are very very frustrating for me, to be honest with you," airport director Sam Sammadar told CBC Radio West host Sarah Penton.
Sammadar said routes from Kelowna to sun destinations like Cancun, Los Cabos and Varadero by carriers like WestJet are planned out, but without the approval of Transport Canada, the window for having them over the winter may close.
"And we're in a situation where, if we don't get an answer from the federal government very very soon we will potentially lose those flights. And they're not going to come back anytime soon."
The airport said international flights accounted for up to 30 per cent of the airport's traffic before the pandemic.
YLW has lost more than $2.5 million in revenue since the federal government cancelled international flights to and from Kelowna as a measure to limit the spread of COVID-19.
Tourism leaders say the region risks losing millions of dollars in foreign spending if the airport remains closed this winter season.
Intelligence regarding foreign interference sometimes didn't make it to the prime minister's desk in 2021 because Canada's spy agency and the prime minister's national security adviser didn't always see eye to eye on the nature of the threat, according to a recent report from one of Canada's intelligence watchdogs.