Thousands of people are expected to pass through the doors of Kelowna International Airport (KLW) for spring break, many of whom are arriving with skis or snowboards in tow.
More than 130,000 passengers are expected to travel through the airport between March 15 and April 3 and YLW is warning that Mondays and Fridays are likely to be the busiest through those dates.
“Kelowna is a four seasons destination, people like to come here and the Okanagan is a great place to come,” said airport director Sam Samaddar.
“This is an opportunity to keep building that traffic and recover from what has been some difficult circumstances for the aviation industry.”
Samaddar says that the spring break traffic will bring the airport back to pre-pandemic volume levels.
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“Last year we did about 85 per cent of our 2019 numbers,” said Samaddar.
“We are expecting this year that we will actually get really close to what our 2019 passenger traffic was.”
To prepare passengers for the busy travel season, YLW has released some travel tips. The first is to check in, pay fees, and print your boarding passes from home before arriving at the airport.
The second is to try to find another way than driving and parking your car at the airport, as parking lots are expected to be full during this time.
The third is to arrive two hours early to your flight and finally to familiarize yourself with the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority’s permitted and non-permitted lists for carry-on and check-in baggage.
“I always say have a plan B,” said Samaddar.
“What happens if your flight gets cancelled? Think about things like that, make sure you have travel insurance available to you so you don’t get stuck down the road with a bunch of issues.”
Armed with knowledge, packed bags and a plan b, you can jet off to somewhere exciting for spring break with peace of mind.
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