The number of flights in and out of Kelowna’s airport is growing again.
On Monday, Westjet announced its new regional service Encore will start flying between Kelowna and Fort McMurray starting in May.
It will also start flights between Vancouver and Fort McMurray at the same time.
The flights are an attempt to capture the growing number of passengers who commute to Fort McMurray to work in the Alberta oil sands industry.
The new service adds to additional routes started in the last year, such as Delta’s Kelowna to Los Angeles route and Westjet’s Kelowna to Cranbrook run, as well as Air North’s flights between Kelonwa and Whitehorse.
Westjet’s announcement was part of a larger expansion that will also increase the Calgary-based airline’s presence in Ontario. Flights between Toronto and Thunder Bay and Winnipeg and Thunder Bay were also announced.
The airline has been growing its regional service, Encore, since last June.
