One of the largest aircrafts to ever come to Kelowna touched down at YLW Friday afternoon.
The Boeing 747 Special Performance aircraft arrived following a non-stop trip from Shannon, Ireland, and will be briefly staying in Kelowna for light maintenance.
Airport officials are hopeful that this arrival will lead to similar aircrafts coming to Kelowna in the future.
“The arrival of the 747SP is a great opportunity to demonstrate YLW’s ability to accommodate larger aircraft on the airport campus,” says Airport Director Sam Samaddar. “We know that our region has increasing demands for air service and the ability to land planes this size opens up lots of doors for us going forward.
The runway at YLW had to be temporarily shut down on Friday to allow the aircraft to land and be towed into KF's facility.
No other flights at YLW were impacted by the 747SP’s arrival.
The luxury aircraft is one of the 45 Boeing 747SP’s built, and has been in operation since 1979.
It was previously owned by the Qatar Royal family, but has since gone on sale in 2016.