Kelowna International Airport's main terminal is pictured in this Wikimedia Commons photo taken on April 2, 2017.
Image Credit: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS/Aviationrocks99
October 31, 2021 - 3:00 PM
Plans for a parkade and hotel at Kelowna’s airport are being pushed ahead to next year, according to the latest report to city council.
The hotel and parkade originally scheduled to be built in 2027 and 2028 is now being planned for 2022 and 2023, according to Kelowna’s latest update to its Official Capital Plan.
READ MORE: Kelowna has fastest recovering airport in Canada
The plan will be shown to city council during Monday’s regular council meeting.
Airport director Sam Samaddar said a hotel at the airport was in its master plan and with reduced activity at the airport due the pandemic and with limited parking, they decided it was a time to move forward with it.
“When you build a hotel and we’re looking at a parade as part of that development, you’re going to consume a lot of parking while you’re building the hotel and the parkade so the time allows us… to build it now when we don’t have as much demand for parking,” he said.
The 200-room high-end hotel and 1,000 stall parkade will be located in the short-term rental car lot, he said.
“It’s a natural evolution where you provide those types of services directly at an airport,” he said.
Compared to 2019, airport traffic is down 50%, he said, but had strong return in the summer months.
“We’ve been restricted right now because of not having the capability to get international flights that have reduced the number of seats that we would normally have available in the marketplace going into November and December but we’re very hopeful that will change around,” Samaddar said.
The airport is still waiting on Transport Canada's approval for international status to be allowed to have international flights.
Passenger projections are expected to be higher this year with around 800,000 passengers which is better than 2020, he said.
To contact a reporter for this story, email Carli Berry or call 250-864-7494 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.
We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.
News from © iNFOnews, 2021