I do get your point and technically you are absolutely correct in that Kelowna is an International Airport however it is hardly in the same class as say Vancouver, Calgary or Seattle.

Likewise *prepares all sorts of stick out tongues & rolling of eyes* *chuckles*

Numerous Portland and Seattle flights weekly, Vegas regular couple hundred bucks a pop. Charter lights to Honolulu Hawaii Mexico etc enough for you ?

2007-2008 expect direct flights to/from UK, Germany etc. That's part of the reason why the runway was extended...to accomodate bigger planes.

Yup...to bring more flip-flop wearing tattooed grunts with skinhead kids complaining about missing their PG Tips and asking for the nearest chip shop innit, and the sausage-eating lederhosen-wearing feather-in-hat uber-traveller-class expecting Mercedes limousines as taxis.

BTW it's one of the nicest smartest well served lil airports I"ve been to albeit Vancouver's still my fave. Love the arrivals walkway and fond memories of landing there so would always have a soft spot in me old thumping muscle/gristle thing. Any airport that have birdsong playing on arrival and waterfalls and big effin totem poles inside and outside is up there with the best in class IMHO.

Rich.

You are both as mad as mud!!

Direct flights to/from UK and Germany in 2007-2008? Do you have any proof of that?

Read it in the local media a few months back, IIRC quoted direct from the airport management itself. It is the fastest growing in the country and 10th busiest (moving up fast) in TWOC [again IIRC but can't be arsed to go search]. Course, I could have been told this by Bubba Johnson over a cold one down at the old Feathers and Roadkill, eh ?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelowna...tional_Airport

You can find the rather interesting 2025 airport master plan here:

http://www.city.kelowna.bc.ca/CM/Page181.aspx

Rich.

Initial Response = Kelowna may be called an international airport as it does have customs facilities there but you'd have difficulty getting a direct flight to anywhere other than a Canadian destination.

No probs... I fully realize that it is not on the same level as the major international airports and I don't recall saying it was.

No smiley's etc... except to say truce & Cheers

Come on Rich, don't sell the place so well or everyone will want to come here and house prices will go through the roof.

I thought they already had

Relative to other Canadian cities, you are right, they have. That's one of the biggest problems for a first-time resident of BC's more popular cities like Victoria, Vancouver and the Okanagan Valley - the price of real estate is the highest in Canada. However, housing in central and northern BC is cheap.

Richard and Judy...thanks for your advice, Okanagan sounds pretty close to perfection - will have to pay it a visit. Vineyards, Mmmmm.

Iain Mc...hope to fly, but have not done any research yet (wife's job will be the deciding factor).

Oggy...thanks for that, my only concern is the wife's concern about the shopping in Kelowna. I couldn't give a monkeys, but any words of reassurance would be appreciated!!

What's the mosquito situation in Kelowna/Calgary/Vancouver?

Thanks again,

Neil

I haven't had much of a problem with mosquitos in either Kelowna, Calgary or Vancouver.... but if you got a really wet summer I suppose you could have a problem in all three cities.

As far as shopping in Kelowna, the main drag is Harvey Ave.... for a stretch of 2-3 km. it reminds me of Los Angeles... there are shops and restaurants on both sides of the street over that distance - or more.

Are you already a qualified pilot or do you wish to learn how to fly?

Rentals or lessons would be available in any of the cities you choose, Kelowna would most likely be the least busy airport of the three cities.

Can't speak for Vancouver or Kelowna but mosquitoes can be a problem in Calgary.

In my opinion the shopping in Kelowna is fine. I don't know what kind of shops your wife would consider to be adequate. There are people who find the shopping in the whole of Canada to be inadequate.
When it comes to Calgary, there are some mosquitoes, but the concentration of mosquitoes varies from year to year. We had an unusually wet June in 2005 (actually 1-in-200 year floods), and the mosquitoes were particularly bad after that.

But the series of questions you have asked does make me wonder if any country will meet your criteria. Earlier in the thread I had thought of recommending Australia. I have lived there and liked it. At first I thought it would meet your specifications (if you could tolerate being that far away from your family in the UK). But, as you have added items to your wish list, I don't believe that Australia would float your boat either.

Mutters, if you're a professional pilot (or indeed not, and just have a recreational interest) most questions you may have can probably be answered on the avcanada.ca forums. Canada's not the easiest place in the world to get a flying job (supply way outstripping demand).

However, Kelowna's a nice place to learn to fly floats

Here's a photo of a float plane in Kelowna's main marina: