Pacific Coastal Airlines
Pacific Coastal Airlines Ltd is a Canadian airline that operates scheduled, charter and cargo services to destinations in British Columbia. Its head office is located in the South Terminal of Vancouver International Airport in Richmond, British Columbia. Its main base is Vancouver International Airport, with a hub at Port Hardy Airport.
History
The original Pacific Coastal Airlines was established in 1956 as Cassidair Services, operating from its base at Cassidy Airport, now Nanaimo Airport, south of Nanaimo. In early 1980, the airline was acquired by Jim Pattison Industries and absorbed into Airwest Airlines, also recently acquired by Pattison. At the time of the acquisition, Pacific Coastal was operating on the Nanaimo-Vancouver, Victoria-Nanaimo-Comox-Campbell River-Port Hardy, and Nanaimo-Qualicum-Port Alberni routes. On November 1, 1980, Airwest and several other local airlines recently acquired by Pattison were merged into Air BC.The current Pacific Coastal Airlines was established in 1987 by the merger of Powell Air and the Port Hardy division of Air BC. It acquired the shares and assets of Wilderness Seaplanes on April 1, 1998. As of 2015, it has over 300 employees.
A new airline division, Wilderness Seaplanes, which started service on May 5, 2016 was established to take over the Pacific Coastal Airlines Seaplane Division and is based at Port Hardy and Bella Bella.
On November 24, 2017, Westjet and Pacific Coastal announced an agreement to operate Saab 340 aircraft under the new WestJet Link brand commencing in June 2018. These aircraft are based at the Calgary International Airport hub, and served destinations such as Lethbridge, Prince George, Lloydminster and Vancouver International Airport to
Cranbrook.
Destinations
Pacific Coastal Airlines operates services to the following destinations in British Columbia:- Anahim Lake
- Bella Bella
- Bella Coola
- Campbell River
- Comox
- Cranbrook
- Kelowna
- Masset
- Port Hardy
- Powell River
- Prince George
- Tofino
- Trail
- Vancouver hub
- Victoria
- Williams Lake
Fleet
| Aircraft | Count | Variants | Notes |
| Beechcraft 1900 | 14 | 1900C, 1900D | 19 passengers, based in Vancouver |
| Cessna 185 Skywagon | 1 | C-185F | 3 passengers, based in Port Hardy, operated by Wilderness Seaplanes |
| de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver | 3 | DHC-2, DHC-2 MK. I | 4 passengers, based in Port Hardy, two operated by Wilderness Seaplanes and one by Pacific Coastal |
| Grumman Goose | 4 | G-21A | 9 passengers, based in Port Hardy, includes three craft operated by Wilderness Seaplanes and one by Pacific Coastal |
| Saab 340 | 9 | 340A, 340B | 30 or 34 passengers, based in Vancouver and Calgary Operated for WestJet Link |
Incidents and accidents
- On August 3, 2008, a Grumman G-21 Goose aircraft with seven passengers and crew crashed during a flight from Port Hardy to Chamiss Bay. The aircraft was completely destroyed by a fire. There were only two survivors.
- On November 16, 2008, a Grumman G-21 Goose aircraft with seven passengers and one pilot crashed on South Thormanby Island off British Columbia's Sunshine Coast, during a flight from Vancouver International Airport to Toba Inlet, BC. The plane was flown into a hillside and exploded into a mass of burning wreckage according to the lone survivor, who was rescued by the Canadian Coast Guard.