"Cancel-gar" airport not living up to negative hype
By Kyra Hoggan
Inclement weather over the past two months hasn’t been a significant barrier at Castlegar’s West Kootenay Regional Airport (WKRA), and in fact the airport has been accepting flights that were unable to land elsewhere in the region.
Airport manager Gerry Rempel said there have been a few flight cancellations – but not many.
“We’re seeing pretty good success – 90-per-cent, I’d guess, for last month,” he said.
He also said several Pacific Coastal flights landed and departed from WKRA , after discovering they were unable to land in Trail.
In related news, Castlegar’s newly-installed airport beacons are ready to go, but are not yet in use.
“I’m testing them monthly, but we haven’t got clearance from Transport Canada yet to use the beacons” Rempel said. “We have a unique situation here, with the mountains and our approaches, so it’s taking some time to get the green light.”
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