With no concrete timetable for when international travel will resume at Kelowna International Airport (YLW), the airport is at risk of losing $2.5 million in revenue as a result, according to the airport含羞草研究社檚 director.
YLW director Sam Samaddar said that he was advised by WestJet that if the status surrounding the airport含羞草研究社檚 access to international travel is not sorted out soon, the airline company will have to decide whether or not to cancel a number of Sun destination flights scheduled for early December.
含羞草研究社淚f we lose these flights, they含羞草研究社檙e not coming back,含羞草研究社� said Samaddar. 含羞草研究社淲estJet will not put on flights in the middle of winter and January and February for Sun destinations, because they know people will have already made their decisions on what they含羞草研究社檙e doing.含羞草研究社�
YLW ceased international travel services on April 9, 2020, to mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Samaddar said that last summer, the airport proposed to meet with the federal government regarding the vaccine mandate for both employees and travellers, as well as the requirement of vaccination cards for travel.
含羞草研究社淲e involved the various parties 含羞草研究社� the International Civil Aviation Organization, the World Health Organization and the International Air Transport Association. Globally, we put together a number of documents to best handle this between countries and states in order to resume air travel once that got started,含羞草研究社� he said.
含羞草研究社淎t every turn on these discussions, we kept getting turned back.含羞草研究社�
READ MORE: COVID-19: No more international flights at Kelowna International Airport
Although YLW is the 10th busiest airport in the country, Qu茅bec City含羞草研究社檚 Jean Lesage International Airport was recently given the green light to accept international travel, despite being the 12th busiest airport based on 2019 passenger numbers. Similarly, the Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport on Toronto Islands 含羞草研究社� the ninth busiest airport in the country in 2019 含羞草研究社� was also granted permission to accept international travel.
含羞草研究社淭he fact that we含羞草研究社檝e gone through these difficult 16, 17 months as it is, not having these services for our flying community is just unacceptable,含羞草研究社� said Samaddar.
The decision to open YLW to international travel, however, is not a call that can be made by the airport alone. Samaddar said that there are three agencies involved: the Public Health Agency of Canada, the Canada Border Services Agency and Transport Canada.
含羞草研究社淚n many discussions and dialogue with them, we含羞草研究社檝e asked for what is the criteria and what is the timeline for opening up our airport back to accept international flights. We have not got an answer on any of that,含羞草研究社� he said.
含羞草研究社淲e asked to give us the criteria for what was used for Quebec City and Toronto Island with Billy Bishop Airport, and they weren含羞草研究社檛 willing to provide that either.含羞草研究社�
He added that if a decision can be made for the airports at Quebec City and Toronto Islands, a decision can be made for Kelowna as well.
含羞草研究社淲hat we含羞草研究社檙e doing right now is by picking certain communities over other communities, we含羞草研究社檙e allowing an uneven playing field for the recovery of those communities as it relates to the economy,含羞草研究社� he said.
In July, Kelowna-Lake Country MP-elect Tracy Gray wrote to the federal Minister of Transport asking the ministry what metrics are being used to determine which airports in Canada are allowed to re-open to international travel.
含羞草研究社淒espite writing to the Minister in July, I have heard nothing but silence from the Minister or his department,含羞草研究社� said Gray.
含羞草研究社淭he people of Kelowna含羞草研究社擫ake Country deserve to hear from this government what metrics are being used to keep Kelowna International Airport closed, and what the timeline for re-opening is.含羞草研究社�
READ MORE: Kelowna International Airport launches employee COVID-19 testing program
aaron.hemens@kelownacapnews.com
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