Fly from Abbotsford to YVR to avoid Hwy 1 traffic?
Posted July 4, 2012 4:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
ABBOTSFORD (NEWS1130) – Would you pay $85 to fly from Abbotsford to YVR and avoid Highway 1 traffic?
A local airline hopes to make a go of it by putting a value on your time.
Gerry Visser runs Island Express Air and plans to add a stop at Vancouver International Airport‘s south terminal on flights from Abbotsford International Airport to Nanaimo, starting July 16th.
“That provides a never-before available opportunity to go directly from Abbotsford to Vancouver in a very short time, about 12 minutes average, maybe 15 with weather,” he says. “But very, very quick for a very reasonable price.”
That price is $85.25 after taxes.
“It will be seven days a week, twice a day during rush hour, one flight on the weekends,” Visser adds. “[It] leaves during the week at 7 a.m., arriving at Vancouver at 7:15 a.m. There is a free shuttle from the south terminal to the main terminal where people can connect to Downtown Vancouver via the [Canada Line.]”
Visser acknowledges he will likely attract a niche clientele.
“Business travellers and government people, lawyers, doctors, whoever that really need to be there. So we are going to try very hard to make sure that we provide a 100 per cent reliable, on-time service.”
“Many people are taking the West Coast Express [train from Mission], which is almost as much money but still takes well over an hour,” he argues. “This is far quicker, and for anybody whose time is money, and who needs the reliability of getting there no matter what, this will be very, very reliable.”
