With highways washed out and more people looking to the skies to travel to and from the Lower Mainland, passenger volumes at Kamloops Airport could see a boost, as the airport continues to weather the effects of COVID-19 travel restrictions.

“It is a welcome change although its a very unfortunate circumstance that has driven the change,” Tracy Brown, the Manager of Facilities and Emergency Response at YKA said. “We’re always here to help and accommodate our regional folks that need to travel to whatever location for whatever reason.”

Data from Kamloops Airport shows that through the first nine months of this year, there were 45,895 passengers processed at the terminal. A vast majority of those travellers – 63 per cent – were in the months of July, August, and September after travel restrictions were eased.

“It is a little bit slower than we were projecting but we are quite pleased to see the numbers in August and September particularly, with September being a lower month traditionally that the numbers actually came up above our August and July numbers,” YKA Managing Director, Ed Ratuski, told NL News in October.

At this time, it is not clear how the Omicron variant of COVID-19 will affect passenger volumes at Kamloops Airport.

Still, with the holidays approaching, YKA passengers numbers could be further boosted after comments from B.C. Transportation Minister, Rob Fleming, when he said that there is no timeline as to when essential travel restrictions could be lifted on Highways 3 and 99.

“All I’m saying is that right now, we’ve been able to restore some highway access but the main Interior route continues to be the Number 3 and we are prioritizing that for commercial vehicles,” Fleming said Monday.

“So I can’t give a day about when that might be reopened to general travel. A lot of this is tied to progress we’re trying to make on Highway 5.”

Highway 5 – the Coquihalla from Hope to Merritt – isn’t expected to reopen to essential travel until the end of January. Highway 1 through the Fraser Canyon is a little ahead of that schedule, though it isn’t expected to open until mid-January.

Speaking to NL News last month, Brown said the four airlines that serve Kamloops Airport either added flights or used larger aircrafts to help get people to and from the Lower Mainland. At the time, all four major highways that connect the Lower Mainland the B.C. Interior were closed due to flooding or mudslides.

“Based on what I am seeing, the terminal is as busy as its ever been since the pandemic hit so users are definitely using the commercial airlines but we’re also seeing passengers who are connecting with private operators,” Brown said at the time.

“Passenger volumes are really high, if not full, so all of the flights that have been added are being used.”

Asked about concerns of price gouging by airlines, B.C. Public Safety Minister, Mike Farnworth, said the province is working with the Federal Government to try and address the situation as quickly as possible.

“As you know it is a federally regulated industry. The challenge, of course, is twofold,” he said Monday.

“One, it is the holiday season and prices are typically higher at this time of year. But also, we want to make sure, that as much as possible, airlines have the capacity and ability to deal with the demand in a way that does not result in people having to pay exorbitant fares.”