Kelowna getting non-stop flights to Los Angeles

It's an aviation coup.

Alaska Airlines will start flying non-stop daily between Kelowna and Los Angeles on Dec. 19.

"It has been over a decade since we had direct service to LAX (with United Airlines), so we are thrilled Alaska Airlines is bringing back this integral route for the Okanagan community," said Geoff Ritchie, director of commercial and air service at Kelowna International Airport.

"Alaska Airlines has been a valuable partner of YLW's for more than 28 years and we are excited to see the continued growth of direct international destinations provided by the airline."

Alaska Airlines will also fly between Kelowna and Seattle seasonally over the winter, starting Dec. 19.

The Kelowna-Los Angeles service will also be winter seasonal, starting Dec. 19 and ending March 17, 2025.

Of course, there's always the hope the airline might consider making them year-round routes if they perform well over the winter.

Alaska Airlines will fly both the Kelowna-Los Angeles and Kelowna-Seattle routes with the 76-seat Embraer 175 regional jet.

Embraer is a Brazilian aircraft manufacturer and the third or fourth largest in the world behind Boeing and Airbus and Canada's Bombardier.

Daily, the Embraer will leave LAX at 10:36 am to arrive at YLW 3 hours and 10 minutes later at 1:46 pm.

The jet will turn around and depart Kelowna at 2:35 pm and touch down 3 hours and 7 minutes later in Los Angeles at 5:43 pm.

Alaska Airlines hasn't activated the route on its online reservations system yet, so we don't know what the fares will be right now.

However, online reservations could be activated as soon as this evening, so people can find out what the prices are and book.

For Okanagan residents, the appeal of a non-stop to Los Angeles is obviously a sun destination holiday in one of the world's greatest cities.

For California residents, the appeal of a non-stop to Kelowna is snow and winter fun at the Okanagan's ski resorts.

"This new direct destination will provide benefits to our entire community, from improving the ability for more tourists to access all the Okanagan has to offer, like world-class skiing and rich cultural experiences to providing our residents a link to LA and connecting destinations to improved access for those travelling through the United States for business purposes," said Kelowna Mayor Tom Dyas.

"I am happy to see our international destinations from YLW continue to increase and serve the community."

The addition of LAX and Seattle will put Kelowna airport's non-stop destination count up to 21 along with Vancouver, Victoria, Comox, Nanaimo, Prince George, Calgary, Edmonton, Regina, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Kitchener, Toronto, Montreal, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Cancun, Puerto Vallarta, Los Cabos and Mazatlan.

The YLW-LAX announcement was part of a bigger release by Alaska Airlines of 18 new non-stop routes to sun and winter wonderland destinations, including Boise-Orange County, San Diego-Vail, Seattle-Vail, Sacramento-Los Cabos, New York JFK-Puerto Vallarta and Kansas City-Cancun.