
The exterior of the Kamloops Airport terminal. (Photo via Kamloops Airport)
Officials in-charge of the Kamloops Airport are looking to restore air services to Prince George.
YKA Managing Director, Ed Ratuski, tells Radio NL it was quite a sustainable route for Central Mountain Air when it flew between the two cities for about 15 years before it was discontinued due to COVID-19.
“They’re still operating in the northern part of the province,” Ratuski said. “Quite busy with their charter market. Their aircraft are still here frequently on a charter basis.”
Ratuski’s comments come as Vancouver-based Pacific Coastal Airlines is set to launch a new seasonal flight to Victoria in October, using the 19-seater Beechcraft 1900 aircraft for the roughly one-hour long journey.
He was asked there have been discussions to see if the Vancouver-based airline might consider adding flights between Kamloops and some of its other B.C. destinations, which include communities like Kelowna, Nanaimo, Penticton, Prince George, Tofino, and Williams Lake.
“There are no services to other Interior destinations from Kamloops and we are looking to get the Prince George route reintroduced,” Ratuski said. “We would like to see one of the regional carriers pick that route up again.”
In an email to Radio NL, Sarah Blake, the Marketing Coordinator for Central Mountain Air says the airline has no plans to reintroduce scheduled flights to Kamloops.
“Unfortunately, at this time, we do not have plans set to return to Kamloops for scheduled service,” she wrote. “Our flights were canceled from Kamloops in March 2022 due to COVID and decreased travel.”
While Central Mountain Air announced a temporary suspension of the flights from Kamloops to Prince George starting Feb. 3, 2021, Blake says it was back operating from June 2021 until March 2022.
It is not clear if or when the Kamloops to Prince George route will be reintroduced, as Ratuski says many of these smaller airlines – like Pacific Coastal and Central Mountain Air – continue to struggle with staffing with many of their employees often moving to the larger operators like Air Canada and WestJet.
But Ratuski says he is in constant contact with a number of airlines about potentially adding new flights to Kamloops, including why they should pick Kamloops over other larger airports like Kelowna or Abbotsford.
As it stands, Air Canada operates daily flights from Kamloops to Vancouver while WestJet flies daily to Calgary. Flair Airlines also operates its Edmonton service on Wednesday and Sunday mornings, though it is set to end next month.