KELOWNA, B.C. – The Kelowna International Airport is getting a major expansion.
The airport has announced the next phase of its capital development program – Soaring Beyond 2.5 Million Passengers, to help meet unprecedented levels of passenger growth.
This month the Kelowna City Council approved $67.3 million for the construction of YLW’s largest expansion to date. As part of the Soaring Beyond 2.5 Million Passengers program, YLW will invest the most ever in its 72-year history – $69.9 million back into the airport over the next three years. Funded through Airport Improvement Fees (AIF), this capital development program has no impact on taxation, officials said.
The expansion includes doubling the size of the departure area, designing an apron expansion to accommodate larger and more aircraft, designing upgrades to airside lighting and supporting infrastructure, and consultation on a self-serve bag drop. Starting in March 2020, terminal expansion construction is expected to begin and continue until 2023.
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.
“Today marks the next step in our plan to expand the airport to ensure it meets the needs of our region now and well into the future,” said Sam Samaddar, airport director, in a press release. “With this investment, we can begin construction in the Spring of 2020 to better serve more passengers.”
As part of the expansion, YLW will complete the following projects:
To help fund the investment, YLW will be implementing a $5 increase in the AIF to $25 per departing passenger, effective March 1, 2020. AIFs are common among Canadian airports and are used to fund capital projects and the cost of associated debt.
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