UPDATE: 4:15 p.m.

Minister of International Development Harjit Sajjan tweeted saying that he spoke with Minister of Transport Omar Alghabra about re-opening international services at Kelowna International Airport (YLW).

含羞草研究社淗e will have an announcement shortly,含羞草研究社� Sajjan said.

I spoke with Minister who knows the importance of YLW for the residents of & the community in the , which includes opening to international routes. He will have announcement shortly.

含羞草研究社� Harjit Sajjan (@HarjitSajjan)

UPDATE: 2:43 p.m.

Minister of International Development Harjit Sajjan has reached out to the Kelowna International Airport (YLW) in support of re-opening international travel, according to a tweet from the airport.

Thank you for reaching out in support of international travel returning to YLW. We are hopeful we will be able to provide international routes again soon!

含羞草研究社� Kelowna International Airport (@ylwkelowna)

___

A chorus of voices from the Kelowna business community is raising concern over the Kelowna International Airport (YLW) still being closed to international travel.

The issue was formally brought to the Ministry of Transport on Oct. 27 by Kelowna-Lake Country MP, Tracy Gray, for the third time. She had sent two original letters one on July 30 and the other on Oct. 7.

Michael J. Ballingall, Senior Vice President of Big White Ski Resort, has also been vocal on the issue. He said in an interview with Capital News that the airport not being open to international travel is 含羞草研究社渞idiculous.含羞草研究社�

He said it含羞草研究社檚 a 含羞草研究社渂ureaucratic bungle,含羞草研究社� and that 含羞草研究社渟omeone含羞草研究社檚 just got to approve it, and away we go.含羞草研究社�

含羞草研究社淭he planes are ready to fly, the staff is in place, someone just needs to sign off on it in Ottawa. It含羞草研究社檚 not rocket science.含羞草研究社�

Joining Big White Ski Resort and Gray other Okanagan businesses are also fed up with the delay, such as CMH Heli-Skiing; Kelowna Chamber of Commerce; Kelowna Eye Care Center; Spence Valuation Group/SVG Capital Group; Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association; Tourism Kelowna.

READ MORE: Kelowna airport at risk of losing $2.5M over stagnation of international travel

The airport has been closed to international travel since April 9, 2020. Other regional airports, such as Qu茅bec City含羞草研究社檚 Jean Lesage International Airport and Toronto Islands含羞草研究社� Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport have already been approved for international services.

含羞草研究社淎s one of the top ten busiest airports in the country prior to the pandemic 含羞草研究社� it astounds us that YLW is not open to international travel when other airports across the country with less passenger traffic have been given the green light by Transport Canada,含羞草研究社� Dan Rogers, executive director of Kelowna Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement to Capital News. He said he recently brought the same statement to the B.C. Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services.

Ballingall said that international customers from places like California, Oregon, and Washington State can get to Kelowna through a number of routes, including flying through Vancouver, Calgary, or Seattle. The latter route through Seattle is one of the most inexpensive and quickest ways, he said.

According to Ballingall, Big White has been promoting the Seattle route for more than 15 years.

含羞草研究社淵ou know, ski season is four weeks away. Our phones are ringing. People are inquiring. And they get very frustrated when they know that the pipeline they含羞草研究社檙e used to using has not re-opened when most of North America has re-opened.含羞草研究社�

含羞草研究社淪o, it含羞草研究社檚 a disadvantage to the Central Okanagan, for sure.含羞草研究社�

When asked about plans to mitigate potential issues, he said there is nothing they can do. 含羞草研究社淢ost politicians don含羞草研究社檛 even answer our emails.含羞草研究社�

含羞草研究社淲e含羞草研究社檝e written new federal ministers on the subject. We含羞草研究社檝e lobbied bureaucrats, deputy ministers, assistant deputy ministers. We have a lobby group called the Capital Hill Group in Ottawa that is knocking on doors on our behalf,含羞草研究社� he said.

Fr茅d茅rica Dupuis with the Ministry of Transportation stated the federal government is prioritizing the health and safety of Canadians by taking a risk-based and measured approach to re-opening the borders.

含羞草研究社淐onsideration is being given to adding additional airports as conditions continue to improve. These decisions will be based on demand, operational capacity, the epidemiological situation in Canada and recommendations from the Public Health Agency of Canada and the Canada Border Services Agency,含羞草研究社� she said in an email to the Capital News.

However, she did not respond with any information in regards to an actual date of when YLW would open to international travel.

READ MORE: Election 2021: Tracy Gray 含羞草研究社� Conservative candidate for Kelowna-Lake Country

With files from Aaron Hemens

josh.fischlin@thefreepress.ca
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