Kelowna Airspace Reopens After Wildfire Causes Ground Stop
by Bruce Parkinson
The city of Kelowna is located in a beautiful setting. (Tourism Kelowna.)
The airspace around Kelowna reopened to commercial flights around 9 p.m. Sunday after being closed due to a nearby wildfire. Airport staff report that 29 flights were cancelled Sunday and additional ones delayed.
On Sunday afternoon YLW advised travellers that the BC Wildfire Service had initiated the closure, suspending all arrivals and departures due to a blaze burning on a hillside in the east Kelowna neighbourhood of Ellison. Later in the evening, authorities decided the situation would allow for a reopening.
“The airspace surrounding Kelowna International Airport (YLW) has been opened to allow some flights to operate during the evening of July 6,” read a statement on the Kelowna International Airport website.
“Flight schedules will be dependent on the airline. Passengers are asked to contact their airline for the most up to date flight information before coming to the airport,” the statement added.
“So that’s really good news,” Phillip Elchitz, Director of Operations & Innovation at Kelowna International Airport told Global News.
“The flights that are currently sitting at their departure airports waiting to depart. It’ll allow them to launch It’ll also allow us to have ongoing operations from now right into the evening and into the overnight area to get some of the aircraft in.”
The statement continued: “As YLW is restarting operations, food and beverage options in the departures lounge may be limited. We appreciate travellers’ patience with this evolving situation.”
