Kelowna flights cancelled through most of Monday due to wildfires

FILE - Kelowna International Airport (YLW). (Source: Google Maps)

Posted August 21, 2023 10:40 am.

Last Updated August 21, 2023 1:19 pm.

Flights to and from Kelowna International Airport (YLW) have been cancelled until at least 9 p.m. Monday as wildfire crews continue to battle raging flames around the Okanagan community.

YLW CEO Sam Samaddar tells CityNews the decision affects commercial arrivals and departures.

Some operations resumed overnight Sunday into Monday, with 15 flights allowed to land and take off between 9 p.m. and about 2 a.m.

“There were 14 passenger flights, one ferry flight — which is an empty flight coming into the airport to pick up passengers,” he explained Monday morning. “We were successful in operating that last night and we expect that we’ll operate quite a few flights again tonight after 9 o’clock.”

Flight operations will resume from 9 pm today until tomorrow at 6 am. The status of these flights could be impacted by weather conditions, such as smoke. Please check with your airline for updated information before coming to the airport. https://t.co/gpupdwsoiw

— Kelowna International Airport (@ylwkelowna) August 21, 2023

Samaddar says passenger flights are being restricted during the day to allow firefighting efforts to continue unhindered.

“We have the forestry service with the airtankers that are fighting the fires on the westside of Kelowna, and so those tankers need the space to operate. Of course, that encroaches on the airspace for the airport. For safety reasons, we just can’t mix the two activities at the same time,” he said.

Passengers are being told that all flights up until at least 9 p.m. Monday will not go ahead as scheduled, even if the airport’s website lists them as “On Time.” He says that information is being updated through the day and that travellers should get word from their airline about the status of their flight.

While Samaddar says KLW and the region have been through similar situations in past years, this fire is bringing some of its own unique challenges.

“The previous fires that we’ve had, they’ve been manageable in terms of they haven’t been right into our control zone of the airport itself, they’ve been on the periphery of that and we’ve been able to work through dealing with the commercial flight operations with the airtanker activity,” he explained.

“In this particular case, because it’s so close, that’s what makes it very, very different from what we’ve had in the past. I was here 20 years ago with the Okanagan Mountain fire as well, but we were able to continue our commercial operations at that time period. This, certainly, is unprecedented in terms of shutting us down totally.”

YLW officials say they have been in constant communication with Transport Canada, Nav Canada, and the BC Wildfire Service.

The airport notes the airspace around YLW remains “closed to allow aerial fire-fighting activity for the wildfires.”

However, Samaddar says other airports in nearby communities are still offering flights for those needed to get out of the area.

“Make sure you’re checking in with your airline because if you don’t advise them that you’re not flying the first leg, they may cancel your whole itinerary. So it’s important to continue to communicate with the airlines and they are offering some form of dispensation because of the fires here in the Okanagan, in terms of not charging extra fees and those kind of things,” he said.

Despite the airspace around Kelowna International remaining closed, Samaddar says many people continue to show up at the airport. A number of them, he says, have been renting vehicles to get out of the area.

“The other thing that we’re offering, we understand that people who have left the Okanagan, they may have their car parked in our parking lot. We’re honour what their original arrival date was in terms of parking fees and won’t be charging anything beyond that,” he added.

Updates for flights after 9 p.m. Monday are expected to be communicated as early as possible, Samaddar tells CityNews.

He says schedules are being built throughout the day for evening flights, and expects that as fire activity reduces, YLW “will try and get more of our airspace back so that we can operate some daytime flights as well.”

People are being reminded an essential-travel-only order remains in place for the Okanagan, including West Kelowna and Kelowna.

Temporary accommodations in these areas, as well as Kamloops, Osoyoos, Oliver, Penticton and Vernon, are not available for non-essential visits for the time being, with the province asking anyone vacationing in the region to voluntarily checkout and free up those spaces for evacuees and responders.

As of Sunday morning, the McDougall Creek fire on the westside was an estimated 11,000 hectares. Officials have said progress was made over the weekend.

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