B.C.'s 2nd busiest airport YLW opens $108-million terminal building expansion | Daily Hive

British Columbia's second busiest airport YLW opens $108-million terminal building expansion

January 2026 condition of the completed terminal building expansion of Kelowna International Airport. (Kelowna International Airport)

Kelowna International Airport (YLW), the second busiest airport in British Columbia in terms of passenger volumes, is marking a significant milestone for the future of air travel, economic growth, and tourism in the Okanagan Valley and broader B.C. Interior area.

Beginning on Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026, passengers travelling through YLW will begin using the newly-completed terminal building expansion, which adds over 60,000 sq. ft. of space to improve passenger flow, comfort, and capacity, as demand for air travel continues to grow.

This is the single largest expansion project in YLW’s history, providing a new departures lounge — with direct access to multiple gates for both departing and arriving flights — and a significantly expanded security screening checkpoint.

As well, just ahead of the official opening of the terminal building expansion, YLW will welcome the largest commercial passenger aircraft ever to operate at the airport on Saturday, Jan. 24 — a Boeing 787-900 Dreamliner operated by Air Canada.

This aircraft will arrive as a special privately-chartered flight, picking up passengers for a journey to Hawaii. While the arrival of the Dreamliner will be a one-off event, the latest expansion positions YLW to be better equipped to accommodate larger aircraft in the future, supporting the potential for regularly scheduled services by bigger wide-body jets.

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“This terminal expansion is an important milestone for Kelowna and the Okanagan,” said Kelowna Mayor Tom Dyas in a statement.

“YLW is a critical gateway that supports jobs, tourism, and economic growth, and this investment will help ensure we can continue welcoming more visitors and connecting our community to opportunities across Canada and beyond.”

kelowna international airport ylw expansion

January 2026 condition of the completed terminal building expansion of Kelowna International Airport. (Jason Nelson)

From the get-go, the new security screening checkpoint will solely use Canadian Air Transport Security Authority’s (CATSA) next-generation security screening technology — the CATSA Plus Computed Tomography (CT) X-ray equipment.

CATSA Plus machines are increasingly being installed at the country’s airports, including at Vancouver International Airport. The technology allows passengers to keep liquids, gels, aerosols and large electronics inside their carry-on bags during screening, resulting in faster processing times and a smoother, less stressful experience for everyone involved.

YLW is now Canada’s first minor-class (Class II) airport to receive the full CATSA Plus deployment.

October 2025 construction progress on the terminal building expansion of Kelowna International Airport. (Kelowna International Airport)

January 2026 condition of the completed terminal building expansion of Kelowna International Airport. (Jason Nelson)

The terminal building expansion also brings new food and beverage options, including the pre-security Ellison Field Taphouse and Vintners Exchange in the departures area.

Improved wayfinding and upgraded digital displays, and a warm, inviting, contemporary interior design, featuring B.C. mass timber, are also highlights of the project, which is designed by Vancouver-based Office of Mcfarlane Biggar Architects & Designers.

“I am proud to celebrate the opening of our expanded terminal and will raise the travel experience for our valued passengers. But this opening is really just the beginning,” said Sam Samaddar, CEO of Kelowna International Airport.

Samaddar noted that over the next year, construction will continue within the older terminal building as 13,000 sq. ft. of space is renovated to add new amenities and improve passenger services.

As construction progresses, passengers can expect to see additional improvements, such as a new washroom concourse, a pet relief station, and new grab-and-go food and beverage options.

All of this work will conclude by late 2026, which will represent the conclusion of the $108-million, Phase 1 of YLW’s Airport Terminal Building Expansion project. Construction first began in 2023.

January 2026 condition of the completed terminal building expansion of Kelowna International Airport. (Kelowna International Airport)

January 2026 condition of the completed terminal building expansion of Kelowna International Airport. (Jason Nelson)

January 2026 condition of the completed terminal building expansion of Kelowna International Airport. (Kelowna International Airport)

December 2025 construction progress on the terminal building expansion of Kelowna International Airport. (Kelowna International Airport)

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Phase 2 is currently scheduled to begin construction in 2030 and will include another expansion of the terminal building. Preliminary plans call for relocating the domestic arrivals area and adding new, higher-capacity baggage carousels, while the existing arrivals space will be repurposed to create a larger international arrivals area and expanded facilities for the Canada Border Services Agency.

This future phase will also include an additional expansion of the departures lounge to further increase passenger capacity, along with relocated booths for rental car, shuttle, and tourism services.

The entire two-phase terminal building expansion project and other upgrades to airport infrastructure — including improvements to the airfield and other airside facilities — are estimated to carry a total cost of $422 million through 2033. The City of Kelowna owns and operates YLW, and this work is being funded entirely by airport revenues and Airport Improvement Fees.

In 2025, the airport also saw construction begin on Sutton Place Hotel Kelowna — a new six-storey luxury hotel with 245 guest rooms, with conference and meeting spaces and a full-service restaurant — and a seven-storey parkade with 1,000 vehicle parking stalls.

The new hotel and parkade — reaching completion in 2028 and 2027, respectively — will be located immediately west of the newly-built terminal building expansion, replacing a YLW surface vehicle parking lot just across the street.

sutton place hotel kelowna airport ylw construction july 2025

July 2025 construction groundbreaking of Sutton Place Hotel Kelowna Airport and the new YLW parkade. (Kelowna International Airport)

Concept of the Sutton Place Hotel Kelowna Airport and the new YLW parkade. (Kelowna International Airport/Northland Properties)

In addition to YLW being B.C.’s second busiest airport — with Victoria International Airport trailing closely at third place, and Abbotsford International Airport at fourth place — Kelowna International Airport is also Canada’s ninth busiest airport, coming just behind Halifax Stanfield International Airport and ahead of Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport.

YLW saw 2.134 million passengers in 2024, which was an all-time annual record for the airport. The latest available statistics at the time of writing suggests a new all-time annual record will be made in 2025; over the first 11 months of 2025, YLW already recorded 2.095 million passengers. In early December 2025, YLW announced it was projecting more than 188,000 passengers over the holiday travel period from Dec. 17, 2025 to Jan. 6, 2026. YLW’s pre-pandemic annual passenger ridership record was 2.08 million in 2018.

YLW’s 2045 Airport Master Plan, finalized in 2016, projected the airport could see 2.25 million passengers by 2025 — a figure the airport is now poised to achieve and surpass, even after the earlier pandemic impacts. The master plan further projected that passenger volumes could further grow to between 2.85 million and 3.3 million by 2035 and between 3.5 million and 4.4 million by 2045. This is up from 1.73 million in 2016.

The master plan outlined how YLW will significantly expand through 2045 to better accommodate its growth, with the current projects through 2033 representing some of the initial works outlined in that strategy. By 2045, this includes runway, taxiway, and apron extensions, further expansions of the terminal building, growing to 16 gates through a combination of jet bridge gates and remote stands (up from the current 10 gates), various new airside and commercial developments, improved ground transportation infrastructure, and future significant land acquisitions on the east side of the runway.

2016 condition of YLW Airport:

2016 condition of YLW. (Kelowna International Airport)

Future 2045 master plan condition of YLW Airport:

ylw kelowna international airport master plan 2045

YLW’s 2045 master plan. (Kelowna International Airport)

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