A large number of people descended upon the KF Centre for Excellence at the Kelowna International Airport Saturday to take in the 2024 Fall Travel Show.
The show was filled with all sorts of different travel vendors, airplanes and new flight information, giving people the chance to learn about aviation, get travel tips for the fall and winter season and more.
“There are so many businesses that are associated with travel and travel at times can be very, very stressful, so there’s all kinds of services that are being offered here,” said Sam Samaddar, YLW Airport Director.
“Our travel agents, for example, you can talk to them directly on a destination, what are the places to go and visit at that destination, and what’s the easiest way of getting there. Those kinds of questions that many may have as they are looking at where they are going to travel to next.”
Samaddar tells Castanet seat capacity for travel to the United States has grown by 75 per cent this year and that the YLW is on pace to break their record for most passengers in a single year.
A record was set for YLW back in 2018 when roughly 2.05 million passengers who went through airport.
The pandemic slowed those numbers, but since then, YLW has been steadily on the incline for the number of arrivals and departures.
“This coming year, 2024, we will set a new all time record for the amount of people using our airport at over 2.1 million passengers, so it’s just tremendous to see the support by the community and the amount of air service with our airline partners that we have feeding into the Okanagan,” said Samaddar.
Another aspect of the travel show was to encourage youth to consider a career in aviation, showcasing planes, plane parts, and so much more.
“We’re very proud of the scholarship foundation that we have developed and really it’s about inciting our youth to think about aviation careers. A lot of them don’t even think about that,” said Samaddar.
“But there are so many different elements to aviation. And so the scholarship foundation, that’s what it’s about. We’re giving away flights, of course, as part of our raffle to L.A., Puerto Vallarta, a full package, and also anywhere AirNorth flies.”
As more and more people continue to discover the beauty of Kelowna, YLW is expecting another record breaking year in 2025.
This post was originally published on here
