Drop in airport passenger traffic blamed on wildfire smoke

Aug 17, 2017 | 5:58 PM

KAMLOOPS — Wildfire smoke is being blamed for a recent drop in passenger traffic at the Kamloops Airport.

According to Manager Fred Legace, passenger traffic was down close to ten percent in July compared to July 2016.

“We saw just a little over 23-thousand people come through the terminal building last month,” said Legace. “Last year the same month was about 25-thousand so it’s it’s about a 9.5 per cent drop off from month-to-month over the year.”

While the smoke forced numerous flight cancelleations at the airport, Legace says the large volume of wildfire aircraft helped offset a revenue loss.