Salt Spring Air
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| Founded | 2003 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fleet size | 4 | ||||||
| Destinations | 10 | ||||||
| Parent company | Harbour Air Seaplanes
Key People Philip Reece (Partner), Lisa Cherneff (Partner), Harold Kirkpatrick (Chief Pilot) | ||||||
| Headquarters | Saltspring Island, British Columbia | ||||||
| Website | Salt Spring Air | ||||||
Salt Spring Air (also known as Saltspring Air[1]) part of Harbour Air Seaplanes, is the only floatplane company based on Saltspring Island, British Columbia, Canada.[2] It operates scheduled flights, charter air service and tours based in Ganges[3] and specializes in routes between the Gulf Islands and Vancouver Island.[4] Along with West Coast Air, Harbour Air and Seair Seaplanes, Salt Spring Air is one of the four airlines that operate in the Vancouver Harbour Water Airport and Vancouver International Water Airport.[5] Scheduled flights by the company also operate between the Gulf Islands and the Vancouver International Airport.[6]
History
In June 2003, McColl started Salt Spring Air, with local seaplane services based on the Gulf Islands with a four-seat Cessna 185. The airline's services were targeted to the islands' residents, and personalized services were offered. Since then, with the introduction of de Havilland Beavers in 2004, the company's fleet has grown to four planes operating six scheduled flights from Salt Spring Island to Vancouver, and other scheduled flights fly to various other locations on the Gulf Islands. It remains the only airline based on Salt Spring Island.[7]
During what began as a routine flight on March 19, 2007, St. Clair McColl rescued a father and son from the frigid waters of the Strait of Georgia after a passenger noticed their capsized boat and notified McColl. The pilot and his two passengers were later honoured by the Lifesaving Society of British Columbia for the rescue.[8][9]
In November 2015, Salt Spring Air was purchased by the Harbour Air Group but continues their original use. Salt Spring Air's fleet now joins Harbour Air Seaplanes, Westcoast Air, and Whistler Air as the largest all seaplane airline in the world.
Destinations
Saltspring Air offers scheduled seaplane flights to and from:[10]
- Vancouver – Vancouver International Water Airport
- Downtown Vancouver – Vancouver Harbour Water Airport
- Vancouver Island / Maple Bay
- Saltspring Island / Ganges Harbour – Ganges Water Aerodrome
Seaplanes
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SaltSpring -
the harbour from salt spring air -
Ganges from Salt Spring Air
See also
References
- ^ Salt Spring Air - Retrieved on June 6, 2016
- ^ Getting to Salt Spring - Salt Spring Market. Retrieved on March 30, 2008
- ^ Local service airlines providing scheduled air services - Transport Canada. Retrieved on March 30, 2008.
- ^ The Islanders Airline - saltspringair.com. Retrieved on March 30, 2008.
- ^ Vancouver Harbour ATC
- ^ Transport listings - Tourism BC. Retrieved on 30 March 2008.
- ^ Our story - Saltspring Air. Retrieved on April 1, 2008.
- ^ Awards to Salt Spring Air, pilot and passengers
- ^ Times colonist, 20 march 2007 A father and son from Vancouver whose boat capsized in the Strait of Georgia yesterday may owe their lives to a veteran seaplane pilot from Saltspring Air.
- ^ book-a-flight/routes-schedules/ Saltspring Air: Scheduled Destinations
Further reading
- Sep 21, 2006 11:00 ET VancouverTV.tv Launches Daily "What's Going On" as the Next Phase of Its Online Television "For example, Salt Spring Air flew us to Ganges, worked with the community and helped produce a fantastic experience of a great destination."
- Salt Spring Air’s dock shelter is a wheelhouse The little shelter on the dock is a replica of the wheelhouse of the MV “Cy Peck” - built in 1922 and served as a ferry to the Gulf Islands from 1930 to 1966.
- Santa's airline Salt Spring Air take Santa around the Gulf Islands.
- The most famous bush plane some say in the world, Salt Spring Air operate three from the Ganges base.
External links
- Official site: Salt Spring Air