The City of Penticton is warning air travelers that some flights into the South Okanagan this summer will be rescheduled due to paving of the main landing strip.

Colleen Pennington, Economic Development Officer for the City says she was caught off guard by the news of this disruption during the busy event season. Air Canada has been advised by the airport/Transport Canada that work will begin on the runway effective Thursday July 3.

This work will disrupt flights.

Air Canada will change flight times for the summer and possibly into the fall. The first flight will be landing as soon as the airport opens at 6:45 am. This is 45 minutes later. This may mean missed connections says Pennington.

Contact Air Canada for more information on your scheduled flights to and from Penticton.

Air Canada, the City of Penticton and Transport Canada are expected to expand on this information later this week.

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A tender notice was issued in May for runway rehabilitation at Penticton Airport. The project will include new asphalt pavement on Runway 16–34, Taxiway A and airside roads. The runway rehabilitation is tentatively scheduled to begin this summer, and work will be scheduled to minimize the impact on the airport’s regular activities. With only one active runway, the only acceptable option is to conduct the work at night, and close the runway during construction. Transport Canada will be closing the runway nightly for eight (8) hours, between 22:00 hours and 06:00 hours. This will result in the least impacts on the overall project cost, airport operations and risks to safety. The project is scheduled to be complete by October 30, 2014.