Post by Retrovision on May 10, 2011 5:15:02 GMT -8
Whistler Air Targets Fraser Valley commuters
Company will start its service at an 'affordable' $24 for a one-way trip, but a new $9.50 levy could present problems
By Brian Morton, Vancouver Sun May 10, 2011 2:05 AM
Fraser Valley commuters will soon have a spiffy new way to get to downtown Vancouver - by float plane.
The 10-minute trip from Pitt Meadows Regional Airport to Vancouver harbour is part of Whistler Air's plans for expanded service that would also connect Fraser Valley clients with Victoria, Whistler and other coastal communities.
But much of the service, planned to begin May 20, faces a major hurdle because of fees to be charged when the new seaplane terminal in Vancouver harbour opens May 25.
At $9.50 per one-way trip, Whistler Air says the levy may be too high to make the Vancouver connection workable, although some other services could still be offered.
Whistler Air's plan is that commuters will drive to Pitt Meadows Regional Airport, hop on a float plane at the airport's Fraser River seaplane facility, and land in Vancouver's inner harbour 10 minutes later. No traffic tie-ups, no parking, no hassles.
Although Whistler Air is calling the service affordable, it will initially cost nearly $50 for a return trip each day -not counting the possible $9.50-per-trip levy.
"We'll start at $24 one-way," Whistler Air president Mike Quinn said in an interview Monday. "There will be three flights in the morning from Pitt Meadows to Vancouver and three flights back in the evening.
"We're hoping [to start] a frequent flyer program with special fares.
"It's a gamble," added Quinn, noting that Pitt Meadows airport has free parking. "But the planes will fly anyway, so we want to fill them up. If we fill up our planes, we'd be looking at 30 people a day."
Whistler Air is hoping that daily commuters will find the service attractive as a way to avoid the one-hour drive to work in downtown Vancouver. "There's no service from the Fraser Valley to downtown Vancouver with anybody," Quinn said. "You either get on the SkyTrain or drive.
"With three flights in the morning and three return flights in the afternoon we will effectively be taking 25 cars off of the road every day."
The plan goes beyond getting Fraser Valley commuters to work in downtown Vancouver, however. The company's Georgia Strait Connector will provide direct flights from Pitt Meadows Regional Airport to Victoria harbour and from Pitt Meadows to Harbour Air's temporary facility in Coal Harbour, where passengers can connect through to Nanaimo, Comox, Sechelt, the Gulf Islands, Tofino and Whistler via Harbour Air or other handlers.
"People from Coquitlam, Surrey and the Fraser Valley will no longer have to [drive] to the downtown float plane base to access these destinations," Quinn said.
He said Whistler Air will station its four aircraft at Pitt Meadows airport, adding that travellers will fly on 12-passenger Otter, a nine-passenger Cessna Caravan or a six-passenger Beaver.
But Quinn said his plan faces a major problem unless there are changes to the $9.50-pertrip levy at the new Vancouver Harbour Flight Centre at the north end of the new Vancouver Convention Centre.
"It's too much," said Quinn of the fee. "We need to get an agreement to make it work. We're waiting for [Tourism Minister] Pat Bell to step in and do something."
He said if the fee stands, the Pitt Meadows-to-downtown Vancouver service becomes questionable, although the direct Pitt Meadows-to-Victoria service would remain, as would the Whistler-to-downtown Vancouver service, with the extra fee being added to the $169 one-way fare.
Six other float plane operators, including Harbour Air and West Coast Air, which together carry 85 per cent of the passengers who fly into and out of the harbour, also oppose the fee.
The Vancouver Commercial Seaplane Operators Association, which represents all the float planes that operate in the Vancouver Harbour, is boycotting the new convention centre facility.
The province appointed BC Hydro chair Dan Doyle as a fact-finder to come up with a solution after the airlines appealed to the provincial government for an intervention in the heated dispute.
Randy Wright, senior vicepresident of Harbour Air, did not want to comment on what that boycott would mean for flights if the dispute isn't resolved before May 25.
"The deal that is being offered is ludicrous. . . . How did a developer get between our customers and our business?" said Wright.
Laura Ballance, spokeswoman for the new flight centre, said in an interview that she knows of no plan to lower the fee from $9.50, adding: "We think it's a fair price."
bmorton@vancouversun.com
© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun
Read more: www.vancouversun.com/Whistler+targets+Fraser+Valley+commuters/4755627/story.html#ixzz1LxFheLPy
Company will start its service at an 'affordable' $24 for a one-way trip, but a new $9.50 levy could present problems
By Brian Morton, Vancouver Sun May 10, 2011 2:05 AM
Fraser Valley commuters will soon have a spiffy new way to get to downtown Vancouver - by float plane.
The 10-minute trip from Pitt Meadows Regional Airport to Vancouver harbour is part of Whistler Air's plans for expanded service that would also connect Fraser Valley clients with Victoria, Whistler and other coastal communities.
But much of the service, planned to begin May 20, faces a major hurdle because of fees to be charged when the new seaplane terminal in Vancouver harbour opens May 25.
At $9.50 per one-way trip, Whistler Air says the levy may be too high to make the Vancouver connection workable, although some other services could still be offered.
Whistler Air's plan is that commuters will drive to Pitt Meadows Regional Airport, hop on a float plane at the airport's Fraser River seaplane facility, and land in Vancouver's inner harbour 10 minutes later. No traffic tie-ups, no parking, no hassles.
Although Whistler Air is calling the service affordable, it will initially cost nearly $50 for a return trip each day -not counting the possible $9.50-per-trip levy.
"We'll start at $24 one-way," Whistler Air president Mike Quinn said in an interview Monday. "There will be three flights in the morning from Pitt Meadows to Vancouver and three flights back in the evening.
"We're hoping [to start] a frequent flyer program with special fares.
"It's a gamble," added Quinn, noting that Pitt Meadows airport has free parking. "But the planes will fly anyway, so we want to fill them up. If we fill up our planes, we'd be looking at 30 people a day."
Whistler Air is hoping that daily commuters will find the service attractive as a way to avoid the one-hour drive to work in downtown Vancouver. "There's no service from the Fraser Valley to downtown Vancouver with anybody," Quinn said. "You either get on the SkyTrain or drive.
"With three flights in the morning and three return flights in the afternoon we will effectively be taking 25 cars off of the road every day."
The plan goes beyond getting Fraser Valley commuters to work in downtown Vancouver, however. The company's Georgia Strait Connector will provide direct flights from Pitt Meadows Regional Airport to Victoria harbour and from Pitt Meadows to Harbour Air's temporary facility in Coal Harbour, where passengers can connect through to Nanaimo, Comox, Sechelt, the Gulf Islands, Tofino and Whistler via Harbour Air or other handlers.
"People from Coquitlam, Surrey and the Fraser Valley will no longer have to [drive] to the downtown float plane base to access these destinations," Quinn said.
He said Whistler Air will station its four aircraft at Pitt Meadows airport, adding that travellers will fly on 12-passenger Otter, a nine-passenger Cessna Caravan or a six-passenger Beaver.
But Quinn said his plan faces a major problem unless there are changes to the $9.50-pertrip levy at the new Vancouver Harbour Flight Centre at the north end of the new Vancouver Convention Centre.
"It's too much," said Quinn of the fee. "We need to get an agreement to make it work. We're waiting for [Tourism Minister] Pat Bell to step in and do something."
He said if the fee stands, the Pitt Meadows-to-downtown Vancouver service becomes questionable, although the direct Pitt Meadows-to-Victoria service would remain, as would the Whistler-to-downtown Vancouver service, with the extra fee being added to the $169 one-way fare.
Six other float plane operators, including Harbour Air and West Coast Air, which together carry 85 per cent of the passengers who fly into and out of the harbour, also oppose the fee.
The Vancouver Commercial Seaplane Operators Association, which represents all the float planes that operate in the Vancouver Harbour, is boycotting the new convention centre facility.
The province appointed BC Hydro chair Dan Doyle as a fact-finder to come up with a solution after the airlines appealed to the provincial government for an intervention in the heated dispute.
Randy Wright, senior vicepresident of Harbour Air, did not want to comment on what that boycott would mean for flights if the dispute isn't resolved before May 25.
"The deal that is being offered is ludicrous. . . . How did a developer get between our customers and our business?" said Wright.
Laura Ballance, spokeswoman for the new flight centre, said in an interview that she knows of no plan to lower the fee from $9.50, adding: "We think it's a fair price."
bmorton@vancouversun.com
© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun
Read more: www.vancouversun.com/Whistler+targets+Fraser+Valley+commuters/4755627/story.html#ixzz1LxFheLPy