
| This article needs additional citations for verification. (November 2012) |
| Kelowna International Airport | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| IATA: YLW ICAO: CYLW WMO: 71203 |
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| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Public | ||
| Owner | Transport Canada[1] | ||
| Operator | City of Kelowna | ||
| Serves | Kelowna, British Columbia | ||
| Hub for | |||
| Elevation AMSL | 1,421 ft / 433 m | ||
| Coordinates | 49°5726N 119°2240W / 49.95722°N 119.37778°WCoordinates: 49°5726N 119°2240W / 49.95722°N 119.37778°W | ||
| Website | |||
| Map | |||
| Location in British Columbia | |||
| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| ft | m | ||
| 16/34 | 8,900 | 2,713 | Asphalt |
| Statistics (2011) | |||
| Aircraft movements | 72,607 | ||
| Passengers | 1,440,952 | ||
| Sources: Canada Flight Supplement[2] Environment Canada[3] Movements from Statistics Canada[4] Passenger statistics from City of Kelowna (2012).[5] |
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Kelowna International Airport (IATA: YLW, ICAO: CYLW) is a Canadian airport located approximately 10 minutes or 6.2 NM (11.5 km; 7.1 mi) northeast of Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada, on Highway 97.
The single runway airport operates scheduled air service to the major hub airports of Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton, Victoria, Los Angeles, and Seattle, as well as less frequent seasonal service to Cancún, Puerto Vallarta, Los Cabos, Phoenix, and Las Vegas. Currently, the airport handles up to 36 commercial departures a day, or approximately 210 departures per week.
In 2010, the airport was among the busiest airports in Canada by number of passengers with 1,391,725, representing a 1.8% increase over 2009.[5]
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Today, the recently expanded main terminal building is a modern, full-service facility covering approximately 76,000 sq ft (7,100 m2). There are 8 aircraft loading positions, all of which are fitted with jet bridges. The arrivals area contains three baggage carousels, one of which can be cordoned off to accommodate US arrivals and Canadian Customs processing.
Several food and beverage services, including Tim Horton's and White Spot Legends restaurant, newsstands, and tourist-related retail stores, in addition to a limited selection of duty-free goods, can be found in the terminal. 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". A small observation area is located on the mezzanine level.
Kelowna International Airport offers non-stop service to eight domestic destinations and six international destinations which make up a total of thirteen destinations.
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Air Canada | Toronto-Pearson, Vancouver |
| Air Canada Express operated by Jazz |
Calgary, Vancouver |
| Air North | Seasonal: Vancouver, Whitehorse |
| Alaska Airlines operated by Horizon Air | Seattle/Tacoma |
| Central Mountain Air | Kamloops, Prince George |
| Northwestern Air | Abbotsford,[6] Red Deer |
| United Express operated by SkyWest Airlines | Los Angeles[7] |
| WestJet | Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto-Pearson, Vancouver, Victoria Seasonal: Cancún, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Puerto Vallarta, San José del Cabo |
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Air North | Seasonal: Vancouver |
| CanJet | Seasonal: Puerto Vallarta, Cancún |
| Sunwing Airlines | Seasonal: Las Vegas, Mazatlán |
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 with UBC Okanagan Exchange in Kelowna. Airport is not being served by the bus on evenings and weekends.[8] Passengers heading to downtown Kelowna or West Kelowna can transfer to 97X express bus at UBC Okanagan Exchange.
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 8,900 ft (2,700 m), and plans to lengthen to 10,000 ft (3,000 m) by 2025. Also, there are plans for the passenger terminal to be expanded so as to allow hourly processing of 680 passengers by 2015, and 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.[9]
The following accidents occurred either at the airport, or involved aircraft using the airport:
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