Harbour Air Seaplanes
Harbour Air plane 2023
IATA CDD Callsign
YB[1] HR[2] HARBOUR EXPRESS[2]
Founded1982
AOC #Canada: 4001[a][3]
Tantalus Air: 17401[4]
United States: 1H6F426F[5]
HubsVancouver Harbour
Victoria Inner Harbour
Secondary hubsVancouver International
Nanaimo Harbour
Focus citiesVancouver, Richmond, Victoria, Nanaimo, Sechelt, Comox, Whistler, Gulf Islands
Frequent-flyer programHigh Flyer Rewards, Air Bucks Program, Quickticket Discounts
Fleet size40,[6] 43[7]
Destinations18[8]
HeadquartersRichmond, British Columbia
Key peopleGreg McDougall, CEO
Peter Evans, President
Websiteharbourair.com

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.

History

Take off from Victoria Harbor, British Columbia
Harbour Air floatplane at Victoria's Inner Harbour Airport
Turbo Otter at Vancouver Harbour Flight Centre
A Harbour Air De Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver in Richmond in June 2006

The airline was established and started operations in 1982 as Windoak Air Service to provide seaplane charter services for the forestry industry in British Columbia. In 1993, Harbour Air purchased Trans-Provincial Airlines, added charter flights to resorts, and increased scheduled services. Today, Harbour Air refers to itself as the world's largest all-seaplane airline and became North America's first carbon neutral airline.[9] A small subsidiary, Harbour Air Malta, was set up in June 2007 and a DHC-3 Turbo Otter floatplane is permanently based in Valletta, Malta for scheduled flights to Gozo and sightseeing trips around the islands.[10] Harbour Air Magazine is the official in-flight magazine of Harbour Air.[11]

In 2007, Harbour Air became the first airline in North America to achieve complete carbon neutrality in both flight services and corporate operations. Teamed up with Vancouver-based Offsetters, the airline started to include a carbon offset on each ticket used to mitigate the environmental impact of the greenhouse gas emissions (GHG's) associated with the flight. The funds are invested in renewable energy projects.[12]

On February 16, 2010, Deloitte Canada announced that Harbour Air was a winner of a 2009 Canada's 50 Best Managed Companies Award.[13] This national award is sponsored by Deloitte, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, National Post and Smith School of Business.

On March 31, 2010, Harbour Air completed the acquisition of West Coast Air and consolidated their terminal services.[14]

On May 20, 2011, Harbour Air grounded its service from Victoria Harbour to Langley Regional Airport due to low passenger numbers and fuel price surges.[15]

On May 9, 2012, Harbour Air purchased Whistler Air.[16]

In September 2013, Harbour Air launched a land-based charter carrier, Tantalus Air, which operate one Cessna 182 Skylane as ICAO airline designator TTU, and telephony TANTALUS.[17][18][19][20]

In November 2015, Salt Spring Air was purchased by the Harbour Air Group. Salt Spring Air's fleet now joins Harbour Air, West Coast Air and Whistler Air and now claims to be largest seaplane airline in the world.[21]

Harbour Air and Kenmore Air started a new seaplane service between Downtown Vancouver, and Downtown Seattle on April 26, 2018,

In March 2019, Harbour Air announced a partnership with magniX to electrify the entire Harbour Air fleet over the long term.[22] Harbour Air has noted that its initial electric-powered commercial flights will be on routes of under 30 minutes' duration.[23] The first converted aircraft was a DHC-2 Beaver which serves as the test prototype for the magniX motor, energy storage, and control systems.[22] The prototype flew for the first time on December 10, 2019.[24][25] The company hopes to have the aircraft certified for commercial use by 2021.[26][27]

Electric aviation

In March 2019, Harbour Air announced plans to convert an aircraft to run on electricity, which would serve as a test prototype during a two-year duration regulatory approval process, and eventually hopes to convert its entire fleet to electric propulsion. The first plane to be converted is a de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver.[28]

The electric prototype made its first flight over 4 minutes off the Fraser River near Vancouver on December 10, 2019. The Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior piston engine of the six-passenger ePlane is replaced by a 560 kW (750 hp), 135 kg (298 lb) magni500, with swappable batteries allowing 30 min flights plus 30 min of reserve power. Harbour Air wants to convert all its 34 aircraft, including Beavers and Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6-powered Otters and Twin Otters.[29]

The plane completed its first point-to-point flight, from Vancouver to Victoria Airport Water Aerodrome near Sidney on Vancouver Island, on August 18, 2022, travelling 72 km (45 mi) in 24 minutes.[30] The aircraft was displayed at the British Columbia Aviation Museum open house on August 20.

Awards and accolades

Seaplane taking off, Middle Harbour, Victoria, British Columbia

Harbour Air has won the following awards:[31]

  • 2009 to 2014 – Canada's Best Managed Companies
  • 2009 to 2011 – BC's Top 55 Employers
  • 2011 – BC's Top 100 Employers for Young People
  • 2011 – Business of the Year: Victoria Chamber of Commerce
  • 2011 – Canada Tourism Commission Signature Experience Award
  • 2011/2016 – Business of the Year on Vancouver Island: Business Examiner / Business Vancouver Island
  • 2012 – Cumberbatch Award: Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators
  • 2012/2015 – Canada's 10 Most Admired Corporate Cultures
  • 2015 – Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce Business Awards – Outstanding Customer Service
  • 2015 – VISA Canada Traveller Experience of the Year/Tourism Industry Association of Canada

Destinations

As of February 2021, Harbour Air serves the following destinations (some destinations are seasonal):[8]

Country Province / state City Airport Notes
Canada British Columbia Comox Comox Water Aerodrome
Kelowna
Maple Bay (Duncan) Maple Bay Marina
Nanaimo Nanaimo Harbour Water Aerodrome
Powell River Powell Lake Water Aerodrome
Richmond Vancouver International Water Airport
Salt Spring Island / Ganges Ganges Water Aerodrome
Sechelt / Sunshine Coast (Lighthouse Pub) Sechelt/Porpoise Bay Water Aerodrome
Tofino Tofino Harbour Water Aerodrome
Vancouver Vancouver Harbour Flight Centre
Victoria Victoria Inner Harbour Airport
Whistler Whistler/Green Lake Water Aerodrome Seasonal
United States Washington Seattle Seattle Lake Union Seaplane Base

Fleet

As of February 2023, the Harbour Air fleet consisted of 40 aircraft and 43 registered with Transport Canada:[6][7][18]

Harbour Air Fleet
AircraftNo. of aircraft
(HA list)[6]		No. of aircraft
(TC list[7])		PassengersVariantsNotes
Cessna 172—13172MNot listed at Harbour Air website
Cessna 180 Skywagon—1—180JNot listed at Harbour Air website
Cessna 182 Skylane—13182P SkylaneOperated by Tantalus Air and still registered to them
Cessna 208 Caravan229208B Grand Caravan EX
de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver14146DHC-2 MK. IOn December 10, 2019, the eBeaver flew for the first time, powered by a Magni500
de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter222114—
de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter3419Series 200, Series 300
Total4044

See also

Explanatory notes

1 AOC number is used for Harbour Air Seaplanes, Whistler Air, Salt Spring Air and West Coast Air.

References

  1. ↑ "iata.org". Retrieved February 26, 2020.
  2. 1 2 "Domestic Designator and Telephony Assignments" (PDF). Nav Canada. February 10, 2023. p. 2. Retrieved February 28, 2023. Harbour Air: HR, HARBOUR EXPRESS
  3. ↑ Transport Canada (2019-08-31), Civil Aviation Services (CAS) AOC. wwwapps.tc.gc.ca.
  4. ↑ Transport Canada (2019-08-31), Civil Aviation Services (CAS) AOC. wwwapps.tc.gc.ca.
  5. ↑ "Federal Aviation Administration - Airline Certificate Information - Detail View". av-info.faa.gov. Retrieved June 27, 2019.
  6. 1 2 3 "Aircraft Fleet". Archived from the original on February 5, 2021. Retrieved February 5, 2021.
  7. 1 2 3 "Canadian Civil Aircraft Register: Quick Search Result for Harbour Air". Transport Canada. Retrieved February 28, 2023.
  8. 1 2 "Flight Schedules". Archived from the original on August 3, 2019. Retrieved August 31, 2019.
  9. ↑ "Harbour Air". www.offsetters.ca. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
  10. ↑ "Corporate". Archived from the original on September 9, 2011. Retrieved March 11, 2011.
  11. ↑ In Flight Magazine Archived 2011-03-24 at the Wayback Machine
  12. ↑ "Carbon Neutrality & Responsible Airline Operations". Archived from the original on February 14, 2016. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
  13. ↑ "Canada's 50 Best Managed Companies announced". Archived from the original on June 14, 2011. Retrieved December 5, 2010.
  14. ↑ Fact Sheet Archived 2010-11-25 at the Wayback Machine
  15. ↑ "Harbour Air grounds Langley-to-Victoria service". bclocalnews.com. May 6, 2011. Archived from the original on July 21, 2011. Retrieved August 2, 2011.
  16. ↑ Whistler Air purchased by largest all-seaplane airline, Harbour Air Archived 2012-07-20 at the Wayback Machine, Peak Magazine May 10, 2012.
  17. ↑ "ICAO Designators for Canadian Aircraft Operating Agencies, Aeronautical Authorities and Services" (PDF). Nav Canada. May 4, 2023. p. 8. Retrieved February 27, 2023. Tantalus Air: TTU, TANTALUS
  18. 1 2 "Canadian Civil Aircraft Register: Quick Search Result for Tantalus Air". Transport Canada. Retrieved February 28, 2023.
  19. ↑ Spruce, Terry (September 21, 2013). "Harbour Air launches Tantalus Air". Corporate Jet Investigator. Archived from the original on June 11, 2016. Retrieved December 17, 2013.
  20. ↑ "Tantalus Air". Archived from the original on February 17, 2016.
  21. ↑ Our Story
  22. 1 2 "Harbour Air set to become the first all-electric airline in the world". Archived from the original on April 4, 2019. Retrieved April 4, 2019.
  23. ↑ Alan Boyle (December 3, 2019). "The electric aviation revolution will be televised … by MagniX and Harbour Air". Geekwire.
  24. ↑ Larsen, Karin (December 10, 2019). "All systems go: 1st all-electric seaplane takes flight in B.C." Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
  25. ↑ A small Canadian airline using a 63 year old seaplane is on the forefront of electric-powered flight
  26. ↑ Peters, Adele (December 10, 2019). "This all-electric airplane is flying the first commercial test flight of its kind". Fast Company. Mansueto Ventures LLC.
  27. ↑ Arnot, Mike (December 26, 2019). "Is a 63-Year-Old Seaplane With an Electric Engine the Future of Air Travel?" – via NYTimes.com.
  28. ↑ Bell, Jeff (March 26, 2019). "Harbour Air to add zero-emission electric plane; aims to convert whole fleet". Vancouver Sun. Archived from the original on March 26, 2019. Retrieved March 26, 2019.
  29. ↑ Jon Hemmerdinger (December 10, 2019). "Harbour Air flies 'first' all-electric commercial aircraft, a DHC-2 Beaver". FlightGlobal.
  30. ↑ Darron Kloster (August 19, 2022). "Harbour Air's electric plane makes successful test flight". Times Colonist.
  31. ↑ "Awards". Archived from the original on February 14, 2016. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
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