Kelowna Airport expecting more than 100,000 passengers over next three weeks

This is one of the busiest times of the year at Kelowna International Airport.

“It’s going to be extremely busy,” airport director Sam Samaddar said. “December is probably our second busiest month of the year, outside of August.”

And this December is no exception. Samaddar said more than 100,000 passengers are expected to come through YLW between Dec. 14 and Jan. 6.

While the peak travel time is between Dec. 21 and Dec. 27, holiday travel has already arrived.

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“University and college students got off on Wednesday, so we are already starting to see that pick up. And, also, we have all of our charter traffic mixed in with our regular schedule flights,” he told Global News.

Despite the crowds, airport officials are reminding passengers there are steps they can take to ensure all goes as smooth as possible.

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One of those measures includes arriving at the airport early.

“For domestic flights, 90 minutes,” Samaddar said. “For an international flight, up to two hours, but be here with plenty of time and get through the screening process as soon as you can.”

Samaddar also said passengers need to ensure they have proper documentation and that passports aren’t expired.

He also gave advice to those travelling with Christmas gifts.

“Please don’t wrap them,” he said. “Security may have to look at them for whatever reason.”

Airport officials are also strongly encouraging holiday travelers to consider getting a ride to and from the airport. Even though there are about 2,600 parking spots, with so many people travelling, parking is expected to be quite limited.

Contingency plans are in place should parking reach full capacity, but with the extreme hustle and bustle of holiday travel, airport officials are hoping passengers heed the advice and load up on patience.

“Lots of patience,” Samaddar said.

In the midst of the holiday rush, the airport is also expected to celebrate a major milestone next week with a record number of passengers coming through YLW this year.

“The exciting news is that we will get over the 2 million passenger mark,” Samaddar said.

That’s about 100,000 more passengers in 2018 compared to 2017.