Kamloops Airport. (Photo via Colton Davies)
Kamloops Airport could once again set a new passenger record in 2024, though its Managing Director says everything will need to go according to plan if that is to happen.
Ed Ratuski says the latest five-year projections – which were done late last summer – show the airport can break the old record of 361,586 passengers set back in 2019.
“It is within the realm to do that for 2024,” Ratuski told Radio NL. “With the traffic numbers and the forecast, if they come through the way they were, it is a good possibility.”
But Ratuski says there are still challenges facing the airline industry in Canada, in particular on some of the smaller, regional routes like Kamloops.
“The closer-in numbers look like recovery will still continue to get beyond our record levels in 2019,” Ratuski said. “That said, the airlines are still in some flux coming out of COVID because I know they are still facing some challenges, particularly with crew availability on some of their routes.”
He also says the impact of the upcoming fire season – which includes smoky skies and any potential travel restrictions as was experienced in 2023 – will determine how busy Kamloops Airport is this year.
Kamloops Airport began 2020 well, before COVID-19 reared its ugly head causing passenger numbers to drop significantly, in part, because of restrictions on non-essential travel.
The airport saw just 123,675 passengers in 2020 and 104,385 in 2021 before rebounding to 257,374 passengers in 2022 and 311,696 in 2023. Prior to COVID, Kamloops Airport was coming off back to back record years with 351,631 passengers in 2018.
“We gauge a lot of what we see by people moving in through the terminal whether its international skiers or business travellers. The numbers [to start 2024] actually look quite strong,” Ratuski said, when asked how early projections for 2024 passenger volumes were.
“We do monitor those month-to-month and some of the forward bookings are looking quite health through the first half of the year anyway. That is a good sign.”
