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Boeing 787 Dreamliner/ Air Canada
big bird

Big Boeing Dreamliner to break YLW record Saturday

Jan 22, 2026 | 2:00 PM

A unique happening is set for Kelowna International Airport which will welcome its largest ever commercial passenger plane on Saturday.

An empty Air Canada Boeing 787-900 Dreamliner will arrive around 10:15 a.m., and pick up 300 passengers for a flight to Hawaii.

It then leaves around 12:30 p.m. Fully laden with passengers and luggage it will require plenty of YLW’s 9,039-foot, (2.7 km runway).

James Hall, Senior Manager, Operations & Sustainability at YLW, said it should be quite the spectacle for plane watchers under blue skies.

He said the privately chartered 787 will need some gates and a taxiway to be blocked so the very wide wings-panned plane can safely reach the gate.

He added this sort of aircraft is the future of longer haul commercial aviation and YLW is planning to be able to accommodate these regularly in the years to come.

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