Harbour Air Seaplanes (YB, Vancouver Coal Harbour) will debut its first-ever wheeled service connecting Vancouver International and Victoria International airports on November 4, 2024, complementing its existing seaplane services between the two cities.
"Being limited to flying during daylight-only hours has prevented us from operating at key times desired during winter. The ability to fly in darkness and operate at airports on wheels is a game changer for us and will provide increased convenience for passengers travelling along these routes," Vice-President (Commercial) Chris Fordyce said.
The airline said it would convert one of its four floats-configured DHC-6-300s to offer 3x daily weekday services between the two cities. The aircraft will be equipped to operate during nighttime and in icing conditions. Flights will depart from Vancouver's South Terminal.
Harbour Air told ch-aviation it would reconfigure two of its DHC-6-300s but will retain flexibility with their conversion back to floats.
"The planes can be switched back-and-forth between floats and wheels within a day, to keep maximum flexibility. It will be a non-permanent conversion," the airline said.
The ch-aviation capacities module shows that the Vancouver-Victoria shuttle service is the mainstay of Harbour Air's scheduled network. The airline operates 172 weekly flights between Vancouver Coal Harbour and Victoria Inner Harbour and a further 40 weekly services from the seaplane terminal at Vancouver International airport to Victoria Inner Harbour. The two routes jointly account for 23% of Harbour Air's weekly scheduled capacity.
Besides the four DHC-6-300 Twin Otters, Harbour Air's fleet also comprises twenty-one DHC-3s, fourteen DHC-2s, two Cessna (single turboprop) C208Bs, one C180J, and one C172M.
