More flights to and from the Okanagan cancelled because of B.C. wildfires

KELOWNA (NEWS 1130) – Most passengers looking to fly into or out of Kelowna and Penticton have had to wait a bit longer as wildfires force both Okanagan airports to cancel flights.

Smoke from the White Rock Lake wildfire has been creating unsafe flying conditions for pilots, and first impacted travel at Kelowna International Airport Sunday night through to Monday afternoon.

“That has restricted the instrument approaches into the airport, and that has resulted in multiple cancellations over the last 24 hours,” YLW Senior Operations Manager Phillip Elchitz said Monday.

Cancellations were once again made Tuesday morning, with the majority of affected flights operated either by Air Canada or WestJet.

Flight delays and cancellations at YLW continue – https://t.co/ecvUtz105Q

— Kelowna International Airport (@ylwkelowna) August 3, 2021

“We’re expecting it to be hour by hour,” Elchitz said of whether flights would resume Tuesday, adding “that’ll completely depend on the behaviour of the wildfire and our ability to work with the B.C. fire service.”

He explains the BC Wildfire Service places a “no-fly zone” in the vicinity of the fire. That zone is also right above the instrument approach into Kelowna International.

“Because of that no-fly zone, we can’t have any aircraft flying the instrument procedures into the airport, and as a result of that, the pilots aren’t able to shoot the approach into the facility,” he said.

According to Elchitz, the visibility at the airport was about 3/4 of a mile Monday afternoon.

Over the past several days, wildfire smoke forced the Penticton airport to cancel many of its flights, forcing many to find other options. As of 5:30 a.m. Tuesday, the only flight arriving that same morning — the 10:15 a.m. from Calgary — had been cancelled. Another flight, for later in the day, was still listed as “On Time.”

Meanwhile, the only flight into Kamloops Tuesday morning was also cancelled.

But starting at 3:00 p.m., flights for roughly 8,000 passengers trying to make their way out of Kelowna will resume.

Phillip Elchitz with the Kelowna Airport says the BC Wildfire Service has been able to condense its ‘no-fly zone’ around a nearby fire, allowing flights to resume in and out of Kelowna.

Elchitz does warn that plans could change if the nearby fire forces a re-expansion of the no-fly zone.

“If there is an expansion of the White Rock Lake fire to the east, it’ll close our approaches again so we’re really just monitoring the wildfire situation, and we’re hopeful that the fire will hold at its current location.”

….Kelowna, are you in there somewhere?! pic.twitter.com/zcLYmujoT7

— Chelsea Powrie (@chelseapowrie) July 30, 2021

Related articles:

• B.C. Wildfire Service welcoming cooler conditions

• Smoke from B.C. wildfires seeping into coast

Travellers look to buses as a way to get in and out of region

John Stepovy with E-Bus says while long weekends are already some of their busiest days “on top of that, with the smoke and some of these airports — it’s certainly increasing ground travel as fights are being cancelled or diverted.”

Many routes are sold out for the next few days and they’re adding more schedules especially the Kamloops and Kelowna routes to and from Vancouver.

“We’re basically maxed out. We’ve added a number of additional schedules over the weekend and into these couple of days. But we’ve seen a lot of people move over the weekend, and they’ll keep were kind of making their way back,” he said.

“This weekend is kind of … ‘the perfect storm of the long weekend,’ [amid] typical increased travel demand, and then the wildfires are just adding to that.”

Stepovy reminds people that facemasks are still mandatory on their buses, and the company is keeping up its COVID-19 cleaning protocols between rides.

More than 250 wildfires in B.C. active 

The White Rock Lake fire, first discovered on July 13, is now an estimated 32,312 hectares in size. The BC Wildfire Service says smoky conditions are also impacting fire fighting efforts, adding it is “hampering the ability for aircraft to fly and is challenging suppression efforts.”

B.C. is in the midst of another devastating wildfire season, with more than 250 fires burning across the province, and many residents forced out of their homes.

Smoke has made its way east across the country, and has also blanketed parts of the South Coast.

There is some hope that the conditions for the wildfire fight will improve, with some rain in the forecast for later in the week.