’Lower the cost to fly’: Big White wants airlines to help Canadians travel

Airfares holding us back?

This weekend is expected to be one of the busiest of the year at Kelowna International Airport and Big White Ski Resort.

“This weekend, we are going to see 40,000 passengers move through the facility between Thursday and Monday,” says Phillip Elchitz, director of operations & innovations at YLW.

“Monday is going to be our busiest day,” he adds. “We are expecting 8,000 passengers, which is close to a record.”

A lot of Americans will be in town because B.C. Family Day on Monday coincides with Presidents’ Day. There could also be more locals and Canadians on the slopes due to the threat of U.S. tariffs.

Big White senior vice president Michael J. Ballingall says snowbirds who usually fly away to the United States until the spring have been staying closer to home.

“This year, we’re seeing 65 to 75 per cent of our early bird season’s pass snowbirds picking up their pass in late January, early February. And the indication is, when we’ve been able to talk to some people, is they either came back early or they just didn’t go,” explained Big White senior vice president Michael J. Ballingall.

It’s a similar sentiment being heard from other Canadians enjoying the snow in B.C. People who would spend two to three weeks in Florida or other popular destinations and maybe one week at area ski resorts are now spending the whole time here.

Ballingall thinks even more visitors from other provinces could be coming to the Okanagan, if not for one significant hurdle.

“The problem is the cost of air (travel) has not come down,” he says. “The price to fly east-west in this country is much more expensive than north-south (into the U.S.).

“If Air Canada and WestJet wanted to get into helping tourism, we’re promoting lower the cost to fly interior Canada.”

While it’s been a problem for years, Ballingall suggests now is the time to improve service and lower costs for Canadians travelling in their own country.

Elchitz says the airport can only do so much to influence the airlines.

“The airlines set the price of the ticket. Our role is to work with the airlines and our airline partners to increase frequency, to increase the city pairings and as well, is to bring in additional carriers on the markets that we have,” he points out.

One of those additional carriers will be Porter Airlines when it launches service between YLW and Toronto in May.

If you are planning to visit Big White this long weekend, Ballingall says to come early for the best parking or wait until the first wave of early skiers leaves in the late morning, around 10:30-11:00 a.m.