Harbour Air suspends service between Vancouver, Sunshine Coast, Vancouver Island, citing low demand

A Harbour Air seaplane takes off past office and condo towers as a boat refuels at a floating Chevron station on the water, in Vancouver, on July 25, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Seaplane operator Harbour Air says it is cancelling one of its routes between Vancouver and Vancouver Island, and temporarily suspending some flights to the Sunshine Coast, due to decreasing ticket sales.

In a statement to CTV News, the Richmond, B.C., company says the "difficult decision" to scale back its operations was not made lightly, but was necessary due to a "persistent softening in demand."

The float plane carrier will cease all flights between Vancouver and Maple Bay on Oct. 5, the company said Thursday.

It will also suspend flights from Vancouver from Sechelt starting on Oct. 8 until the spring of 2025.

"We understand that network decisions impact our guests' transportation options, and we apologize for the inconvenience and thank our guests for their patronage and support," the statement said.

Harbour Air says passengers looking to travel between Vancouver and the Maple Bay area, northeast of Duncan, will instead have to fly through either Nanaimo or Victoria. Guests with existing bookings to or from Maple Bay after Oct. 5 will be refunded for their trip, the operator said.

"Obviously, we were very disappointed when we learned that the service was going to be suspended," David Messier, owner of the Maple Bay Marina, said Thursday, noting the floatplanes have been operating in the Cowichan-area marina for more than 30 years.

"Having that service out of Maple Bay was definitely something that a lot of us really valued and we're sorry to lose that," North Cowichan Mayor Rob Douglas added.

"Hopefully we can convince them to return this to being the iconic route that it is."

A 'blow for Sechelt'

Harbour Air says it will continue to offer flights between Sechelt and Nanaimo with a connection to Richmond and Vancouver Harbour during the temporary suspension of that route.

"As a result of these and other network changes, we have taken the difficult decision to realign our staffing needs to better match our future operational requirements," the statement said.

"This has unfortunately included the closure of our Sechelt pilot base this coming winter season, however, the three impacted pilots have been offered a position in Vancouver based on seniority within the company."

"It's a body blow for Sechelt," Mayor John Henderson said of the cuts to the Sunshine Coast route on Thursday.

Earlier this summer, the company suspended its scheduled service between Vancouver and Butchart Gardens, as well as between Vancouver and Patricia Bay, citing low demand.

With files from CTV News Vancouver Island's Brendan Strain