News release

At approximately 9:10 a.m. today, Air Canada flight 8399 departing from Kelowna on route to Vancouver advised Kelowna International Airport (YLW) air traffic control that they had a mechanical issue and was required to return to the gate.

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

The aircraft returned safely to the gate and passengers are now being offloaded from the plane and returned to the terminal. There was no disruption to scheduled flight service at YLW.

Kelowna International Airport (YLW) has released its final passenger numbers for 2019, with figures showing airport travel surpassing two million passengers, securing tenth busiest airport in Canada for a second year in a row.

In 2019, passengers totaled 2,032,144, a 1.3 per cent decrease or 26,886 fewer passengers than in 2018.

Kelowna International Airport (YLW) is preparing for another busy holiday season, with over 100,000 passengers expected over the next three weeks. Passengers are advised to plan ahead and prepare for longer than normal wait times at the airport to reduce travel-related stress.

YLW anticipates increased, but steady traffic flow from Dec. 19 through Jan. 8. The busiest travel days of the season will be Dec. 20 - 29. Follow the travel tips below to help make the travel experience as easy as possible:

Kelowna International Airport (YLW) announced the next phase of its capital development program - Soaring Beyond 2.5 Million Passengers, to help meet unprecedented levels of passenger growth.

In 2018, passengers totaled a record-breaking 2,080,372, a 31 per cent increase or more than 486,700 passengers since 2015—becoming the 10th busiest airport in Canada.

Kelowna International Airport (YLW)’s annual Winter Travel Show will take place on Saturday, Oct. 19, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Guests will be able to meet with airlines, travel agents, hotels and resorts to get helpful travel tips and information on popular destinations.

“This event is a great way to learn about the many travel destinations from YLW, and win some great prizes,” said Sam Samaddar, Airport Director. “Thanks to our travel partners, we are giving away over $15,000 in prizes, including all-inclusive trips to Mexico, Phoenix, and Las Vegas.”

Renovations to the Kid’s Zone are now underway to revitalize the space and transform it into an active play area for kids of all ages. The new Kid’s Zone will feature a tree-fort inspired play structure with a slide, and a cozy space for reading.

Other features include:

Today, Kelowna International Airport (YLW) hosted a multi-agency training exercise simulating an aircraft crash. More than 20 agencies were involved in this mock emergency to practice major incident skills and find improvements to the agencies’ current response plans. Flights at YLW were not impacted by the exercise.

Upgrades to improve the customer experience at Tim Hortons are now underway at Kelowna International Airport (YLW). The Tim Hortons located in the terminal before security screening will undergo improvements to revitalize the restaurant experience with new lighting, flooring, open-concept seating, and a re-designed counter and queueing area. Construction is anticipated to be complete by mid-October.

At approximately 2:06 p.m. YLW was notified of a possible suspicious item on board a WestJet flight departing from the airport.

As a safety precaution, emergency crews were dispatched to respond to the incident. The threat was deemed non-credible and normal operations of the airport have resumed.

Today, Kelowna International Airport (YLW) celebrated the inaugural flight to McCarran International Airport (LAS) in Las Vegas with ultra-low-cost carrier Swoop.

To kick off the celebrations, Power 104 and Beach 103 were live on-location to announce the winners to the Swoopcase Party contest, where nine pre-selected couples arrived at the airport with bags-packed for a chance to win one of two trips to Las Vegas. As a twist, all nine couples won and boarded Swoop’s inaugural Las Vegas flight from Kelowna.