A new aviation company is offering chartered flights from Texada Island to destinations across the province.
Oceanside Air, which operates the charter service, hosted a meet and greet on Texada for local residents last month to provide more information about the service.
qathet Regional District Electoral Area D (Texada Island) director Sandy McCormick, who attended the meet and greet, said the aviation company is operating a chartered service because the Texada airstrip is not certified to provide a scheduled service.
Passengers pay a flat rate depending on the destination, but the plane is four-seated, meaning groups can split the airfare between them.
“It’s really exciting for us because we haven’t had air service at the airport,” said McCormick. “It’s been a couple of years.”
Texada previously had air service provided through KD Air, but the airline ceased its operations after a corporate takeover in 2019.
Before Oceanside started, said McCormick, the Texada airstrip was primarily used for private flights that were typically chartered from elsewhere by tourists.
Destinations offered by Oceanside include Qualicum Beach (where the company is headquartered), Vancouver and Abbotsford. The company also offers sightseeing tours to the Southern Okanagan and Tofino.
“It’s great news for Texada, really great if you have to get to Vancouver and you have to be there right now because your mother has been struck by a bus and is dying,” said McCormick. “You can do it now.”
McCormick said the news has been well received by her constituents.
“[Oceanside] seem like very good people, and I look forward to working with them, flying with them,” she added.
Texada Airport Advisory Committee chair Joseph Scott, a former frequent flyer during the days of KD, said the new charter service is important for local businesses.
“I’ve had to adapt to things differently over the last year and half,” said Scott. “But some other people who were business professionals who work remotely and had connections to physical offices in say Victoria or Vancouver, or Calgary, had to travel to those locations on a regular basis, so they started to think maybe Powell River is where they should live.”
Scott explained that the regional district previously voted to allow the airport to be decertified, but a federal ministerial order allowed it to continue operating as an aerodrome, meaning it could provide only one scheduled carrier, KD.
“Then [KD] fell apart, and so now we’re back to the drawing board with the airport having to determine if we are able to have it recertified, “said Scott. “And if we can demonstrate that for whatever reason we cannot meet the requirements for certification, then we can reapply for a special ministerial permit to become an aerodrome again, and then we can appoint one scheduled air carrier.”
Perfect timing
The timing of Oceanside’s arrival is perfect, explained Scott, because it can do business on Texada as a chartered airline while the advisory committee determines the feasibility for the airport’s certification.
“There’s a lot of excitement about Oceanside Air coming here,” added Scott. “It’s refreshing in difficult times right now to have someone come forward and say ‘hey, we’ve got a future together.’”
Texada residents can look out for opportunities to split airfares with other passengers through a local Facebook page.
“When people have booked a flight you can go and see where they’re going, when they’re going, maybe you want to ride with them, or maybe you want to fill up the empty leg on the way back,” said Scott. “That’s starting to get some traction, which is good.”
Pavel Novak, who owns Oceanside and pilots the aircraft, told the Peak the process of getting flights off the ground has been a year and a half in the making.
Most passengers, explained Novak, have so far travelled from Qualicum Beach to Texada.
“We didn’t get charters yet from Texada to Vancouver,” he added.
The service uses a twin-engine aircraft, said Novak, making flights safer and more reliable.
“We would like to provide service all year around,” he added. “We’d like to serve more communities like Sechelt, and provide better service because they just have a single-engine operation.”
