With steady increases over the year, the Kamloops Airport had more travellers in 2015 than in 2014.
The Kamloops Airport saw 324,042 travellers in 2015 compared to 313,093 in 2014 – that’s a 3.4 per cent increase.
32,221 of those passengers came in December – an eight percent increase from the same time last year and 5,838 more passengers than in November of this year.
According to the Kamloops Airport, most of the travel came from tourism due to the lower Canadian dollar compared to the US dollar. The airport has also seen increase in both domestic and US travel.
With travel company NewLeaf recently announcing their budget-priced flights, Kamloops Airport Managing Director Fred Legace, doesn’t think the cheaper prices will affect the increasing traveller numbers in Kamloops.
“I don’t expect it to cause issues for us here. If people are travelling and that fare level attracts them, then typically it will be people who are going to the end point that the air carrier services,” Legace said.
Starting February 12th, NewLeaf will offer flights between Halifax, Hamilton, Winnipeg, Regina, Saskatoon, Abbotsford, and Kelowna.
Legace says he doesn’t expect many people from Kamloops to travel to Kelowna to fly to one of the available locations, only to take another carrier to travel to their final destination.
“If you want to get further than what the air carrier is taking then you have to get onto another airline to do that … If you want to get to Toronto and you land in Hamilton, it’s still a little bit of a jaunt into the city,” Legace said.
Legace says NewLeaf did have initial discussions with the Kamloops Airport, but they would eventually land in Kelowna where their operating company, Flair Airlines, flies out of.
For more information about additional fees or to book a flight visit the NewLeaf website.
