News release

At approximately 5 p.m. on Sunday, November 1, a Cessna 172 training aircraft landed short of the runway in the grass at Kelowna International Airport (YLW).

The lone occupant of the aircraft was treated by BC Ambulance for minor injuries and released.

YLW is experiencing delays to arriving and departing flights and the airport is fully operational.

Passengers should check their flight status at ylw.kelowna.ca

At approximately 10:50 a.m. today, a Convair aircraft advised Kelowna International Airport (YLW) air traffic control that they had a mechanical issue and were diverting to Kelowna.

As a safety precaution, emergency response teams were dispatched for the standby.

The aircraft landed safely at approximately 11:20 a.m. There was no disruption to scheduled flight service at YLW.

At approximately 12:38 p.m. today, WestJet flight 3239 departing from Kelowna International Airport (YLW) advised the air traffic control tower of a mechanical issue related to the aircraft's landing gear and was required to return to YLW.

As a safety precaution, emergency response teams were dispatched for the standby.

The aircraft landed safely at approximately 12:59 p.m. There was no disruption to scheduled flight service at YLW.

At approximately 10:32 a.m., a privately registered Quest Kodiak on approach to YLW, advised the air traffic control tower of a potential mechanical issue.

As a safety precaution, emergency response teams were dispatched for the standby.

The aircraft landed safely at approximately 10:37 a.m. There was no disruption to scheduled flight service at YLW.

At approximately 10:41 a.m., a privately owned Cessa Citation advised the air traffic control tower of an issue with overheating brakes, while taxiing to the runway.

Kelowna International Airport’s Aircraft Rescue Firefighting team was dispatched to assist the aircraft and cool the brakes.

Passengers are being deplaned and the aircraft will be towed to the hangar for inspection. There was no disruption to scheduled flight service at YLW.

At approximately 0840h a North Cariboo Air aircraft, operating on behalf of Pacific Coastal Airlines on approach to YLW from Victoria, advised the air traffic control tower that there were indications that there could be issues with the landing gear.

As a safety precaution, emergency response teams have been dispatched for the standby. Additional information will be provided as soon as it’s available.

Update 10:00 a.m.

The aircraft landed safely at approximately 0955. There was no disruption to scheduled flight service at YLW.

At approximately 0730h today, a private Cessna Citation aircraft, which departed from the Vernon Regional Airport, advised the Kelowna International Airport (YLW) air traffic control tower that there were indications that there could be issues with the landing gear.

The aircraft was diverted to YLW and as a safety precaution, emergency response teams were dispatched for the standby. The aircraft landed safely at approximately 0744. There was no disruption to scheduled flight service at YLW.

Kelowna International Airport (YLW) is introducing an app-based contactless payment option for airport parking. Customers at YLW can now use the PayByPhone mobile app to pay for parking at meters located along the front curb, across from the terminal.

Kelowna International Airport (YLW) has released its final passenger numbers for 2020, with figures showing more than 700,000 passengers travelled through the airport last year.

In 2020, passengers totalled 737,447, a 64 per cent decrease or 1,294,572 fewer passengers than in 2019 -- passenger levels not seen since 1997. YLW remains optimistic that travellers will return to the skies in the future when it’s safe to do so; however, the airport does not expect to see pre-pandemic passenger numbers return until 2024, at the earliest.