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Upgrades and expansions to the Kelowna International Airport will cost an estimated $259 million over the next thirty years.
That number is rough, however, and subject to traffic growth at the airport as well as its continued economic well-being.
The price tag is just one aspect of YLW’s planned growth highlighted in the Kelowna International Airport 2045 Master Plan.
The plan sets out detailed recommendations on what Kelowna’s airport will need to thrive in the coming decades, as it deals with ever-increasing traffic volumes.
According to the plan, more and more people are expected to continue to pass through the airport in the coming decades. By 2045, as many as 3.5 million passengers could be passing through.
Last year, the airport served approximately 1.6 million passengers.
The number of aircraft landing and taking off from the airport is also expected to increase to 100,000 per year by 2045. That’s a significant leap from the approximately 75,000 moving through YLW in 2015.
Most of the growth, according to the report, is expected to originate from commercial air carrier movements.
As the report points out, YLW provided 1,411 Full Time Equivalent jobs and $336 million in direct output in 2014. Because of that “the Airport continues to generate benefits for the City and region in terms of supporting business activities, increased tourism and air access for its residents.”
A growing airport will only increase those benefits, and to keep up with that growth the master plan says several steps will have to be taken.
A big one is a runway extension, which will elongate the strip to 3078 metres. Over the long term, this would allow YLW to “gain greater market reach” by allowing for heavier payloads for cargo and extended flight ranges.
A southern expansion of the terminal building and repurposing the north end of the airport is a more pressing short-term goal. This would include an expanded departures lounge, a new domestic arrivals area at the southern end of the building and a dedicated international arrivals area.
Should traffic at the airport increase as predicted, the master plan says intersection of Highway 97 and Airport Way will also need to be upgraded. The report recommends both short-term patches and a more long-term overhaul of that piece of road.
The plan also calls for YLW to focus on more land acquisition, recommending acquiring land parcels situated west of Old Vernon Road and north of Bulman Road as they become available for sale.
Council will consider the master plan at its regular meeting Nov. 21. In order for some of the recommendations to be implemented, council will have to amend several current bylaws.
The full master plan is available as part of the Nov. 21 city council agenda.
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