This is a list of airlines of British Columbia which have an air operator's certificate issued by Transport Canada, the country's civil aviation authority. These are airlines that are based in British Columbia.
Airline | Image | IATA | ICAO | Callsign | Hub airport(s) or headquarters | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cascadia Air | CBF | BIGFOOT | Campbell River | Scheduled Service, Air Taxi and charter | ||
Central Mountain Air | 9M | GLR | GLACIER | Smithers | Regional, charters [1] | |
CHC Helicopter | HMB | HUMMINGBIRD | Vancouver International Airport, Richmond | Helicopter charters, flight training [2] | ||
Cloud Air | Lake Muskoka/Mortimer's Point | Floatplane, scheduled passenger service, charters, flight training [3] | ||||
Corilair | Campbell River | Charters and scheduled floatplane [4] | ||||
Flair Airlines | F8 | FLE | FLAIR | Kelowna | Ultra-low-cost-carrier | |
Harbour Air Seaplanes | H3 | HES | HARBOUR EXPRESS | Vancouver Harbour | Scheduled passenger service, charters [5] | |
Helijet | JB | JBA | HELIJET | Vancouver | Scheduled passenger service, charters [6] | |
KF Cargo | KW | KFA | FLIGHTCRAFT | Kelowna | Scheduled passenger service, cargo Charter airline. Along with Canadian Helicopters, Atlantis Systems International and Canadian Base Operators operates KF Defence Programs. [7] [8] [9] | |
Northern Thunderbird Air | NTA | THUNDERBIRD | Prince George | Scheduled passenger service, charters [10] | ||
Ocean Air Floatplanes [11] | Victoria Water | Floatplane charters. [12] Purchased Pat Bay Air in March 2015 and was fully integrated. | ||||
Pacific Coastal Airlines | 8P | PCO | PASCO | Vancouver | Scheduled passenger service, charters [13] | |
Salt Spring Air | 101 | SALTSPRING | Ganges | Floatplane, scheduled passenger service, charters [14] | ||
Seair Seaplanes | SS1 | SEAIR | Vancouver Water | Floatplane, scheduled passenger service, charters [15] | ||
Tofino Air | 25 | TOFINO AIR | Tofino Harbour | Scheduled passenger service, charters [16] | ||
Vancouver Island Air | Campbell River | Seaplane, scheduled passenger service, charters [17] | ||||
VIH Helicopters | Saanich, British Columbia | Charters, MEDIVAC (air ambulance), aerial firefighting [18] Example colours only; aircraft now different type. [19] | ||||
West Coast Air | 8O | YWZ | COAST AIR | Vancouver Harbour | Floatplanes, scheduled passenger service, charters [20] |
Airline | Image | IATA | ICAO | Callsign | Hub airport(s) or headquarters | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Air BC | Vancouver | 1980 - 2002 To Air Canada Jazz | ||||
Air Southwest | Chilliwack | 1983 - 2005 | ||||
Airspeed Aviation | Abbotsford | 1986 - 2009 Sold to Orca Airways | ||||
Baxter Aviation | 6B | Nanaimo Harbour | 1985 - 2007 Sold to West Coast Air | |||
BCWest Air | Abbotsford | 2007 - 2008 Ended in October 2008 due to unresolved shareholder dispute | ||||
Canadian Pacific Air Lines | CP | CPC | EMPRESS | Vancouver | 1942 - 1987 Also known as CP Air, to Canadian Airlines International, the callsign is still used by Canadian North | |
Harmony Airways | HQ | HMY | HARMONY | Vancouver | 2002 - 2007 | |
Hawkair | BH | BHA | HAWKAIR | Terrace and Kitimat | 1994 - 2016 On November 18, 2016, Hawkair declared bankruptcy, had all assets seized for liquidation, and permanently suspended operations. [21] | |
Island Express Air | 1X | IAX | ABBY AIR | Abbotsford | 2009-2020 Demise due to COVID-19 pandemic [22] | |
KD Air | XC | KDC | KAY DEE | Vancouver | Ceased operations in 2019 | |
Kootenay Direct Airlines | Nelson | Ceased operating in 2009 | ||||
Orca Airways | OR | ORK | ORCA | Vancouver | Suspended by Transport Canada in 2018 | |
Pacific Western Airlines | PA | PWA | Vancouver | 1946 - 1987 To Canadian Airlines | ||
Powell Air | PWL | POWELL AIR | Powell River | 1975 - 1987 Merged with Air BC to form Pacific Coastal Airlines | ||
Queen Charlotte Airlines | Vancouver Water | 1946 - 1955 Sold to Pacific Western Airlines | ||||
Sonicblue Airways | VL | Vancouver | 1982 - 2006 | |||
Trans-Provincial Airlines | Prince Rupert | ? - 1993 Sold to Harbour Air | ||||
Western Express Airlines | Vancouver | 1994 - 2006 |
Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is 456 km (283 mi) in length, 100 km (62 mi) in width at its widest point, and 32,100 km2 (12,400 sq mi) in total area, while 31,285 km2 (12,079 sq mi) are of land. The island is the largest by area and the most populous along the west coasts of the Americas.
Vancouver International Airport is an international airport located on Sea Island in Richmond, British Columbia, serving the city of Vancouver and the Lower Mainland region. It is located 12 km (7.5 mi) from Downtown Vancouver. Vancouver International Airport is the second busiest airport in Canada by passenger traffic, behind Toronto Pearson International Airport. As a trans-Pacific hub, the airport has more direct flights to China than any other airport in North America or Europe. It is a hub for Air Canada and WestJet. Vancouver International Airport is one of eight Canadian airports that have US Border Pre-clearance facilities. It is also one of the few major international airports to have a terminal for scheduled float planes.
Tofino Air is a small Canadian airline offering floatplane service from Tofino, British Columbia. It offers scheduled services, scenic tours, and specialized charters.
Central Mountain Air Ltd. is a Canadian regional airline based in Smithers, British Columbia. It operates scheduled, charter, and transborder services. Its main base is Smithers Airport, with other bases at Calgary International Airport and Vancouver International Airport.
Boeing Field, officially King County International Airport, is a public airport owned and operated by King County, five miles south of downtown Seattle, Washington. The airport is sometimes referred to as KCIA, but it is not the airport identifier. The airport has scheduled passenger service operated by Kenmore Air, a commuter air carrier, and was being served by JSX with regional jet flights. It is also a hub for UPS Airlines. It is also used by other cargo airlines and general aviation aircraft. The airfield is named for founder of Boeing, William E. Boeing, and was constructed in 1928, serving as the city's primary airport until the opening of Seattle–Tacoma International Airport in 1944. The airport's property is mostly in Seattle just south of Georgetown, with its southern tip extending into Tukwila. The airport covers 634 acres (257 ha), averages more than 180,000 operations annually, and has approximately 380 based aircraft.
Victoria International Airport serves Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. It is 12 nautical miles north northwest of Victoria on the Saanich Peninsula, with the bulk of the airport in North Saanich, and a small portion of the airfield extending into Sidney. The airport is run by the Victoria Airport Authority. YYJ has many nonstop daily flights to Vancouver International Airport, which is a major airport serving many global routes. Additionally, Victoria International has nonstop service to Seattle (SEA), Toronto (YYZ), Montreal, Calgary (YYC), Edmonton (YEG), and several smaller cities in British Columbia and Yukon. The airport also has seasonal nonstop service to several Mexican resort destinations. Non-stop service between Victoria and the United States decreased by 50% at the beginning of September 2019 when Delta Airlines permanently ended its three daily flights to Seattle, after which only Alaska Airlines continued to fly the route.
Helijet International is a helicopter airline and charter service based in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada. Its scheduled passenger helicopter airline services operates flights from heliports at Vancouver International Airport (YVR), downtown Vancouver, downtown Nanaimo and downtown Victoria. It also operates a charter division serving the film, television, aerial tour, industrial and general charter markets, as well as helicopter and jet air ambulance services. Its head office and main hangar is Vancouver International Airport (YVR).
Harbour Air Seaplanes is a scheduled floatplane service, tour and charter airline based in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada. The predominantly seaplane airline specializes in routes between Vancouver, Nanaimo, Victoria, Sechelt, Comox, Whistler and the Gulf Islands, primarily with de Havilland Canada floatplanes. Harbour Air operates de Havilland Beavers, Otters and Twin Otters.
Abbotsford International Airport is located in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada, 2.2 nautical miles southwest of the city centre. It is the second largest airport in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, after Vancouver International Airport (YVR), and is in close proximity to British Columbia Highway 1, and the US border. It is located about 65 kilometres (40 mi) from downtown Vancouver.
Transport Canada is the department within the Government of Canada responsible for developing regulations, policies and services of road, rail, marine and air transportation in Canada. It is part of the Transportation, Infrastructure and Communities (TIC) portfolio. The current Minister of Transport is Pablo Rodriguez. Transport Canada is headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario.
Hawkair was a regional airline based in Terrace, British Columbia, Canada. It operated scheduled and charter regional passenger services in British Columbia and Alberta. Its main base was Northwest Regional Airport with a hub at Vancouver International Airport.
Kenmore Air Harbor, Inc., doing business as Kenmore Air, is an American airline with its headquarters on the grounds of Kenmore Air Harbor in Kenmore, Washington, United States, north of Seattle. It operates scheduled and charter seaplane and landplane service to destinations throughout western Washington and southwestern British Columbia, as well as seaplane "flightseeing" flights around Seattle. In addition to its corporate headquarters, seaplane maintenance facility and terminal in Kenmore, the airline has hub operations for seaplanes at its terminal on Seattle's Lake Union and for land planes at Seattle's Boeing Field/King County International Airport. It also operates a maintenance facility for its landplane fleet at Boeing Field.
Kelowna Flightcraft Air Charter trading as KF Cargo and Kelowna Flightcraft trading as KF Maintenance and Engineering is a cargo airline based in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. It operates long term cargo charters for couriers and freight companies, forest fire patrols, and aircraft sales and leasing in Canada and worldwide. It also provides maintenance and aircraft manufacturing services.
Northern Thunderbird Air Inc or NT Air is a Canadian charter airline and medevac service based in Prince George, British Columbia.
Victoria Harbour is a harbour, seaport, and seaplane airport in the Canadian city of Victoria, British Columbia. It serves as a cruise ship and ferry destination for tourists and visitors to the city and Vancouver Island. It is both a port of entry and an airport of entry for general aviation. Historically it was a shipbuilding and commercial fishing centre. While the Inner Harbour is fully within the City of Victoria, separating the city's downtown on its east side from the Victoria West neighbourhood, the Upper Harbour serves as the boundary between the City of Victoria and the district municipality of Esquimalt. The inner reaches are also bordered by the district of Saanich and the town of View Royal. Victoria is a federal "public harbour" as defined by Transport Canada. Several port facilities in the harbour are overseen and developed by the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority, however the harbour master's position is with Transport Canada.
Salt Spring Air part of Harbour Air Seaplanes, was a floatplane company based on Salt Spring Island, British Columbia, Canada. It operates scheduled flights, charter air service and tours based in Ganges in Harbour Air Seaplanes livery with the Salt Spring Air name on the side of the aircraft and specializes in routes between the Gulf Islands and Vancouver Island. Along with West Coast Air, Harbour Air and Seair Seaplanes, Salt Spring Air is one of the four airlines that operate in the Vancouver Harbour Water Airport and Vancouver Harbour Flight Centre. Scheduled flights by the company also operate between the Gulf Islands and the Vancouver International Airport.
Pat Bay Air was a charter float plane and airline flying from the Victoria Airport Water Aerodrome in Patricia Bay near the Victoria International Airport on Widgeon Drive in North Saanich, British Columbia, Canada, where its headquarters was located. Pat Bay Air was one of only two seaplane companies to be based out of the historic Patricia Bay Seaplane Base; the other is Ocean Air Floatplanes. The seaplane base has been in continuous operation since the Second World War. Pat Bay Air Ltd. was purchased by Sandpiper Air Seaplanes Ltd. in 2013. Sandpiper Air Seaplanes Ltd. officially ceased operations in Alberta and BC in March 2016.
Island Express Air was a small Canadian airline based in Abbotsford, British Columbia. Its first flight was on August 7, 2009, as part of the Abbotsford International Airshow. It operated scheduled air service between the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island, as well as charter flights and cargo service. On February 23, 2018, one of their planes, a King Air B100, crashed at Abbotsford Airport (CYXX) immediately after take-off in blizzard conditions. As a result of this accident, and due to public safety concerns, Transport Canada suspended Island Express' air operator's certificate (AOC) shortly thereafter, on February 28, 2018. However, following a robust review of the company's safety procedures the operating certificate was reinstated on June 26, 2018. The company slogan was Your Island Connection.