Massive Air Canada Dreamliner set to make history at Kelowna's YLW

History to be made at YLW

Photo: Air Canada

A Boeing 787 Dreamliner will touch down on Saturday, marking the largest commercial aircraft to ever dock at YLW's terminal building.

Kelowna International Airport on Saturday will be welcoming the largest commercial passenger plane the facility has ever seen.

Air Canada is flying an unloaded Boeing 787 Dreamliner into YLW at 10 a.m. and is picking up 300 passengers before flying off to its final destination in Kona, Hawaii. The aircraft is being chartered by a private client.

"We've had large aircraft go to KF Aerospace before, we've had the 747, we've had the Antonov. We've had some large military planes, but this would be the largest commercial one coming to our terminal building," said YLW's senior manager of operations, James Hall.

The 787 Dreamliner is 40 feet wider and 25 feet longer than the previous largest commercial flight, a 767-300, which will mean airport operations will have to take some special precautions.

Hall says YLW will have to close some taxiways so the plane can maneuver to the gate.

"It has some impact when it's on the ground, as it gets to the gate. It's certainly part of our master plan. As we build out and have new taxiways connecting the apron to the runway environment, it'll just get that much more efficient as we build out our master plan," Hall said.

He said the airport is equipped to handle planes of this size, and they are looking forward to the flight, which is coming in empty from Vancouver.

"We can certainly accommodate it safely and efficiently on our apron. We're excited to see it here. It'll be a feather in our [caps], it demonstrates we have the reach capability," Hall said.

Typically, moving a passenger load of 300 from Kelowna would require two scheduled flights on standard 737 or A320 aircraft. However, a private customer chartered the specific flight, utilizing the heavy-duty long-haul capacity of the Dreamliner for the trip to Hawaii.