Airport type Public Time zone PST (UTC−08:00) Code YLW Phone +1 250-765-5125 Owner Transport Canada | Operator City of Kelowna Elevation AMSL 1,420 ft / 433 m Elevation 344 m Province British Columbia | |
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Serves Kelowna, British Columbia Hub for Flair Airlines
KF Cargo Address 5533 Airport Way, Kelowna, BC V1V 1S1, Canada Profiles | ||
Kelowna international airport tour
Kelowna International Airport (IATA: YLW, ICAO: CYLW) is a Canadian airport located approximately 10 minutes or 6.2 nautical miles (11.5 km; 7.1 mi) northeast of Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada, on Highway 97.
Contents
- Kelowna international airport tour
- Westjet boeing 737 700 landing at the kelowna international airport cylw
- Terminal facilities
- Airlines and destinations
- Ground transportation
- Public transit
- Future expansion
- Accidents and incidents
- References
The single runway airport operates scheduled air service to the major hub airports of Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton, Victoria, 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 38 commercial departures a day, or approximately 266 departures per week.
In 2014, the airport was among the busiest airports in Canada by number of passengers with 1,602,899, representing a 6.5% increase over 2013.
Westjet boeing 737 700 landing at the kelowna international airport cylw
Terminal facilities
Today, the recently expanded main terminal building is a modern, full-service facility covering approximately 76,000 sq ft (7,100 m2). There are 10 aircraft loading positions, all of which but two are fitted with jet bridges. The arrivals area contains three baggage carousels, one of which can be cordoned off to accommodate international/US arrivals (and remaining two for domestic arrivals) and Canadian Customs processing (The airport has CATSA pre-board screening area, but not US pre-boarding clearance zone).
Several food and beverage services, including Tim Horton's and White Spot Legends Restaurant, newsstands (Skyway Gifts and News), and tourist-related retail stores (Okanagan Estate Wine Cellar), in addition to a limited selection of duty-free goods (Okanagan Style and Duty Free), 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" and Skyway Atrium Lounge. Kelowna Art Gallery operates a satellite site at the airport. A small observation area is located on the mezzanine level.
Airlines and destinations
Key destinations from the airport are Pacific Northwest (US and Canada), Western Canada, Northern Canada, Toronto as well as seasonal connections to Las Vegas, Mexico and Caribbean.
Ground transportation
Cars, buses and taxis can connect to the airport for Kelowna via Highway 97N. The airport has an outdoor parking lot next to the terminal and some short term spaces near the terminal building.
Public transit
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. The airport is not served by the bus on evenings and weekends. Passengers heading to downtown Kelowna or West Kelowna can transfer to 97X Kelowna RapidBus at UBC Okanagan Exchange.
Future expansion
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, the passenger terminal has been expanded so as to allow hourly processing of 680 passengers in 2015, and will be further expanded as to allow 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.