You could soon be paying additional fees on flights out of Kelowna International Airport.
A report headed to Kelowna city council on Monday includes a proposal to increase the Airport Improvement Fee (AIF) from $20 per departing passenger to $25 per departing passenger, effective March 1, 2020.
The hiked fee would help the city tackle future infrastructure projects to help the airport’s continual growth.
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“Kelowna International Airport’s passenger numbers increased 38 per cent between the year ended December 31, 2013 and the same period in 2018. This increase in passenger numbers has resulted in operational capacity constraints throughout the airport’s infrastructure,” states the report put together by airport management.
“In addition, some of the Airport’s existing infrastructure is reaching the end of its lifecycle and requires rehabilitation or replacement.”
According to the report, the increase would align YLW with the median costs per passenger for airports of similar size.
The airport improvement fee is expected to help for $191 million ($220 million with inflation) worth of projects by the end of 2020.
Those projects include:
- Terminal expansion ($109 million, with inflation)
- Apron expansion ($20 million, with inflation)
- Self-serve baggage drop ($2 million, with inflation)
- Airside lighting and supporting infrastructure design ($200K, with inflation)
- Runway end safety area ($9 million, with inflation)
- Combined operations building ($12 million, with inflation)
- Common use terminal equipment ($3 million, with inflation)
- Loading bridges ($2 million, with inflation)
- Airside pavement rehabilitation ($51 million, with inflation)
- Airside equipment ($13 million, with inflation)
The largest project included in the list is the terminal expansion, which would consist of an expansion of the departures lounge, the addition of a bridge on Gate 2 and the relocation of domestic arrivals to the south end of the terminal. The terminal expansion is estimated to be completed by 2023.
Also proposed by the airport is a two per cent increase to its landing and terminal fees, which would still be one of the lowest rates among similarly sized airports, according to the report. A fee of $1.50 per hour would also to be implemented for the use of the electric vehicle charging stations.
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