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9 One of the main roles of Harbour Air today is providing tourists with easy access to the breathtaking forests and seaports of Vancouver Island , in Canada . // HARBOUR AIR . |
Today , the carrier operates more than 40 seaplanes to 14 destinations around Vancouver . YB ’ s main seaplane base is located in Vancouver harbor , just over half a mile from downtown .
This makes it fantastically convenient for passengers to quickly commute to other cities instead of driving or taking a ferry . The airline , which chiefly flies to Nanaimo , the spectacular mountain paradise of Whistler , and the rural seaport of Ganges , also operates regular flights to Victoria and even Seattle .
These two larger cities are the best promotional opportunities for Harbour Air . As high-speed rail does in Europe , seaplane flights between Vancouver , Victoria , and Seattle easily beat the travel times offered by regular services .
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The comfort of reaching your aircraft less than a mile from Downtown Vancouver even just 30 minutes before takeoff can be reason enough to choose this airline against Air Canada , Alaska Airlines , or Delta .
HARBOUR AIR ’ S HARD PRODUCT
Except for a single Cessna Grand Caravan EXs , Harbour Air ’ s fleet of 40 consists entirely of De Havilland Canada aircraft . These include DHC-2 Beavers , DHC-3 Turbine Otters , and DHC-6 Twin Otters .
These planes — which are all equipped , of course , with floats instead of landing gear — can seat an average of 12 passengers each . This may not seem like many , but consider that every
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Harbour aircraft can operate up to 10 flights every day . Multiply that across the entire fleet , and you get a potential of more than 140,000 passengers a month , an outstanding number for an airline of that size .
One crucial point : Harbour Air ’ s fleet is one of the world ’ s oldest . That is because , by their very nature , planes have no need for pressurization . This reduces fuselage fatigue so enormously that the airline can fly the same planes for more than 50 years , with the consequent cost reductions .
The DHC-3 Turbine Single Otter — which , with 22 units , accounts for just over half the fleet — can carry up to 14 passengers and is used on almost every route from Vancouver
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