Image Credit: Shutterstock
February 11, 2015 - 2:30 PM
KAMLOOPS - There were nearly 1,300 fewer travellers who came through the Kamloops Airport last month than the January before and it is believed the lower oil prices may be to blame.
In January 2015 nearly 27,800 people came through the gates at Fulton Field, down from the more than 29,000 that travelled in January 2014. While the number of travellers is down from 2014 it is still well up from numbers recorded in 2010 through 2013.
With more than 310,000 travellers flying in and out of Kamloops in 2014 it was a record year for the local airport even though numbers began to dip in December.
Airport Manager Fred Legace says the cutbacks in the resource industries likely played a part in the lower numbers for both December and January, noting fewer people have needed to commute to those jobs. A number of flights were also cancelled or rescheduled the first week of January due to the large snow storm that dropped more than 35 centimetres of snow at the airport in less than 48 hours.
The lower Canadian dollar has been good for tourism though and there has been an increased number of visitors from the United States. The number of aircraft movements has increased as well, largely due to the increased number of local courier companies.
To contact a reporter for this story, email Jennifer Stahn at jstahn@infonews.ca or call 250-819-3723. To contact an editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
News from © iNFOnews, 2015