New seasonal flights between Kamloops and Victoria immediately become year-round

Demand has been so enthusiastic for Pacific Coastal's seasonal Kamloops-Victoria non-stops that the airline has decided to fly it year-round.

"We are grateful to our customers' strong response since we first announced this service and are delighted to extend this route to be year round," said Johnathan Richardson, Pacific Coastal Airlines vice-president of customer and commercial relations.

In mid-July, Pacific Coast first announced it would become the only airline to fly between Kamloops and Victoria with seasonal service Oct. 17, 2023 to April 26, 2024 to capitalize on Vancouver Island residents wanting to come to Kamloops to ski at nearby SunPeaks Resort.

The uptake was so brisk that by the time Pacific Coastal started the flights on Tuesday of this week, it was ready to announce the route is being expanded to year-round.

The flights are six times a week (daily, except for Saturday) with departure from Victoria at 3:30 pm for arrival in Kamloops at 4:40 pm and the same plane turning around to leave Kamloops at 5:05 pm to touch down in Victoria at 6:05 pm.

Pacific Coastal is celebrating its Kamloops debut by offering 20% off all flights between Kamloops and Victoria that are reserved before Sunday when you use the promotional code YKAYYJ20 when booking online.

A quick search online shows that some flights are already sold out and others come in at anywhere from $149 to $200 one-way, all taxes and fees included.

Pacific Coastal is doing the route with 19-seat Beechcraft turbo-propeller planes.

The size of the aircraft is key in the success of the route because Pacific Coastal is able to fill the plane regularly making the service viable.

Kamloops Airport had the opposite experience when, after three months, Flair Airlines stopped flying twice-weekly between Kamloops and Edmonton on Sept. 6 because its 189-seat Boeing 737 Max jet was only half full.

Pacific Coastal has also found success flying the 19-seat Beechcraft between Kelowna and Victoria, Kelowna and Nanaimo, Trail and Vancouver and Prince George and Victoria.

Pacific Coastal also has 30-and-34-passenger Saab turbo-props in its fleet and serves other cities from the airline's hub at Vancouver Airport's South Terminal, including Tofino, Port Hardy, Comox, Williams Lake, Powell River, Campbell River, Bella Coola, Anaheim Lake and Masset.

"Securing a non-stop flight between the two cities has been on our radar for some time," said Kamloops Airport managing director Ed Ratuski.

"We are excited about the opportunities this new service will offer both business and leisure travellers at both ends of the route."

That's right, passengers are expected to be a mix of those travelling back and forth on government business because Victoria is the provincial capital, other business travellers, those visiting friends and relatives and tourists.

Initially, that means Victoria residents wanting to ski at SunPeaks Resort, but it also means Vancouver Island residents who want to do other year-round activities in Kamloops and vice versa.

Kamloops Airport also has four flights a day to Vancouver with Air Canada and four flights daily to Calgary with WestJet.

As it continues to rebound after COVID, the airport is also looking for airlines to do Kamloops-Edmonton, Kamloops-Prince George and Kamloops-Toronto, which are all routes that used to be offered.