With less than a week until Christmas, many people are already on their way to their holiday destinations, or at least, trying. Weather froze travel somewhat at the Kelowna airport.
Throughout the weekend, the Central Okanagan and other parts of British Columbia experienced cold temperatures and heavy snowfall. There were several flight delays at YLW due to this, both inbound and outbound.
Flights out of the province were delayed, then cancelled, leaving many travellers stuck in Kelowna overnight.
“The biggest impact we have this time of year is, you’ve got the aircraft capacity really at its fullest point and so we have weather that plays a very important role,” said Kelowna International Airport director Sam Samaddar, “to ensure that aircraft operate where they might be coming or going from in a safe environment.
“So, if we look at the last 24 hours, for example, we had 22 flight cancellations for arriving and departing airplanes. It’s a combination of weather here (and) we had weather in Calgary as well as Vancouver.”
Weather woes or not, Samaddar says Kelowna International Airport expects to see more than 150,000 passengers this holiday season. The busiest days are expected to be Dec. 19-27. He advises travelers to plan ahead and be prepared for possible wait times.
“Check-in and do as much of a check-in as you can at home. Have your travel documents with you, make sure you check your passport, make sure it hasn’t expired – because it will be too late once you get to the airport,” said Samaddar.
As well as keeping passengers and staff safe, YLW staff are doing everything they can to keep up with demand. Samaddar recommends using the airport’s website to track flights along with travel tips to be fully prepared.
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