This airport could be the first in the world to open a marijuana shop

By Nina Zdinjak

A cannabis dispensary at the airport? Could that be true?

Apparently it could happen sooner rather than later. Where? Canada, of course, and most likely at Prince George Airport (IATA: YXS) (ICAO: CYXS), which serves Prince George, British Columbia and the surrounding areas.

Photo by Marco López via Unsplash

The airport aims to be the first in the world to have a retail weed shop on its premises, Prince George Citizen reported.

On Friday, the Prince George Airport Authority (PGAA) welcomed a new business partner who is “the cannabis innovator for travel” – co-pilot.

“The company approached us in early 2020 with a proposal to open what we know to be the world’s first retail cannabis store in an airport terminal,” said Gordon Duke, CEO of the PGAA, which operates the airport. “We firmly believe that Copilot here at YXS will improve the services that our other business partners offer our passengers and the people in our region.”

The company needs a Prince George City business license to open the store at YXS this year. Fortunately, the copilot is there. According to the outlet, the business license is one of the last steps for the company, which has already met all other requirements.

Duke added that Copilot, like any other cannabis store in Prince George, will do business and comply with all federal and provincial laws.

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“We’re excited to be working with the YXS team and introducing co-pilot to the Prince George community,” said co-pilot co-founder Reed Horton.

Make traveling more enjoyable

Horton founded Copilot together with his fellow student Owen Ritz with the idea of ​​making traveling less stressful and more pleasant.

“We saw an opportunity to provide airports across Canada with a safe and easy cannabis retention experience, and we founded Copilot in 2020,” said Horton. “We contacted YXS later that year and have been working with the team ever since to bring our store to Prince George.”

Photo by Anete Lūsiņa via Unsplash

Horton pointed out that Prince George is an ideal location for Copilot’s first airport weed shop.

“We thought Prince George was the best place to start because of the size of the airport and community culture,” said Horton.

“We felt the airport was big enough to have enough passenger traffic and enough flights to test the various aspects of the business model, but small enough to develop a sense of community and it wouldn’t necessarily feel like our retail store would be in a sea of ​​other stores or that it was an overwhelming experience for other passengers as this is a whole new concept. “

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There are plans to place Copilot’s marijuana shop in front of the security checkpoint to avoid it being only accessible to travelers, but the airport will remain a smoke-free environment, with the exception of designated smoking areas.

One question arises: will the cannabis shop affect the number of travelers who choose this airport?

This article originally appeared on Benzinga and was republished with permission.