A chorus of voices from the Kelowna business community has expressed concern that Kelowna International Airport (YLW) is still closed to international travel.
The subject was officially presented to the Department of Transportation for the third time on October 27th by Kelowna Lake State Representative Tracy Gray. She had sent two original letters, one on July 30th and the other on October 7th.
Michael J. Ballingall, Senior Vice President of Big White Ski Resort, also spoke on the matter. In an interview with Capital News, he said the airport was not open for international travel “ridiculous”.
He said it was “bureaucratic nonsense” and “someone just has to approve it and off you go”.
“The planes are ready to fly, the staff is on site, in Ottawa only someone has to log off. This is not rocket science. “
With the addition of Big White Ski Resort and Gray, other Okanagan companies are fed up with the delay, such as: B. CMH Heli-Skiing; Kelowna Chamber of Commerce; Kelowna Eye Care Center; Spence Valuation Group / SVG Capital Group; Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association; Kelowna Tourism.
READ MORE: Kelowna Airport threatens to lose $ 2.5 million due to stagnation in international travel
The airport has been closed to international travel since April 9, 2020. Other regional airports such as Jean Lesage International Airport in Québec City and Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport on the Toronto Islands are already approved for international air traffic.
“As one of the ten busiest airports in the country before the pandemic – we are amazed that YLW is not open for international travel when other airports across the country with fewer passengers have received the green light from Transport Canada,” Dan Rogers, Executive Director of the Kelowna Chamber of Commerce said in a statement to Capital News. He said he recently presented the same statement to the BC Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services.
Ballingall said international customers from places like California, Oregon and Washington State can get to Kelowna via a number of routes, including flights via Vancouver, Calgary or Seattle. The latter route through Seattle is one of the cheapest and fastest routes, he said.
Big White has been promoting the Seattle route for more than 15 years, according to Ballingall.
“You know, the ski season is still four weeks away. Our phones are ringing. People ask. And they get very frustrated when they know that the pipeline they are used to has not reopened while most of North America has reopened. “
“Well, it’s definitely a disadvantage for the Central Okanagan.”
When asked about plans to contain potential problems, he said there is nothing they can do. “Most politicians don’t even answer our emails.”
“We have written new federal ministers on this subject. We have lobbied bureaucrats, deputy ministers and deputy ministers. We have a lobby group called Capital Hill Group in Ottawa that is knocking on doors on our behalf, ”he said.
Frédérica Dupuis, of the Department of Transport, stated that the federal government is making the health and safety of Canadians a priority by taking a risk-based and measured approach to reopening borders.
“We are considering adding more airports as conditions continue to improve. These decisions will be based on demand, operational capacity, the epidemiological situation in Canada, and recommendations from the Canadian Health Service and Border Services Agency, ”she said in an email to Capital News.
However, she did not respond with any information on an actual date that YLW would open for international travel.
READ MORE: 2021 Election: Tracy Gray – Conservative Candidate for Kelowna-Lake Country
With files from Aaron Hemens
@fishynewswatch
josh.fischlin@thefreepress.ca
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