(Image credit: CFJC Today/File photo).

By Aaron Schulze

YKA Quarter 4

YKA sees 146 per cent passenger increase in 2022, inches closer to pre-pandemic levels

Jan 18, 2023 | 12:20 PM

KAMLOOPS — Kamloops Airport (YKA) is getting closer to seeing pre-pandemic levels of passengers again.

In a news release issued Wednesday (Jan. 18), YKA Managing Director Ed Ratuski says, in the fourth quarter of the fiscal year, the airport saw a 31.1 per cent increase compared to the same quarter in 2021.

In the fourth quarter of 2022, YKA says it saw 76,673 travellers – 24,835 in October, 25,770 in November, and 26,068 in December – compared to the 58,490 – 13,230 in October, 17,475 in November, and 27,785 in December – in the same period in 2021.

The year-to-date numbers for 2022 (257,374) are 146.6 per cent higher than 2021 (104,385). Ratuski says YKA saw 83.7 per cent of its record-setting fourth quarter in 2019.

“The significant increases experienced in [the fourth quarter] can be attributed to the return of both business and leisure travel, as well as the lifting of all travel restrictions related to the pandemic,” Ratuski says. “The slight drop in December traffic is a direct result of the wide-spread travel disruptions and cancellations due to weather and ongoing crew availability issues in the days leading up to Christmas.”

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Ratuski says YKA’s passenger growth is currently forecast to surpass pre-pandemic levels in early 2024.