(UPDATE) - Further details on the reopening of YLW to daytime commercial flights are now available here.
(UPDATE: Aug. 24 @ 9:55 am) - The City of Kelowna says that some daytime commercial flights will resume at Kelowna International Airport (YLW) today.
"The restrictions to airspace surrounding the airport in place since Aug. 18 have been reduced to allow operations of both aerial firefighting support on the westside of Okanagan Lake and operations of flights at YLW," a statement from the City explained.
"While this will allow more flights to operate, there are still several restrictions to the airspace surrounding YLW that could impact aircrafts’ ability to arrive and depart."
The City noted that flight schedules will depend on the airline and technology of each plane.
At this time, the departures and arrivals boards are still littered with red and it doesn't appear as though any flights will take off or land until after 4 pm.
However, this is a fluid situation and KelownaNow will provide updates as they become available.
(Original story: Aug. 24 @ 7:45 am) - Kelowna’s airport closure will reach a week.
For the seventh consecutive day, the airspace around Kelowna International Airport (YLW) will be closed to commercial flights during the day.
It began on Friday as wildfires tore through the region and continued in the days that followed, both due to smoke and to allow aerial firefighting operations to take place.
The smoke has cleared, but the fire fight is still very much active and Thursday will be another day of no flights between sunrise and sunset.
“As this is an evolving situation, we are unable to give a timeline for when the airspace will open for daytime operations,” the airport wrote on social media on Wednesday.
The overnight window for flights to arrive and depart from YLW was expanded Wednesday, from 9 pm until 6 am to 8:30 pm until 7:30 am.
However, a look at the arrivals and departures boards today indicates that no flights have flown in or out of Kelowna after 6 am.
Airlines continue to try and add more flights overnight where possible in an effort to help alleviate the effect of cancellations and the airport has taken certain measures to make this time less stressful as well.
That includes waiving additional parking fees for those who have had to leave their vehicle in the short- or long-term parking lots for longer than planned due to flight cancellations.
