A round up of aviation news in BC/YT and with major airlines who serve BC. All photos my own unless stated. I'm sorry for missing a week - I was away for the Easter weekend and our home was turned upside down getting decorated while away (I still don't have my chair unburied from the spare bedroom...)
If anyone has any news or photos - particularly from elsewhere in BC or Yukon - please comment or send to me via email cangloballog@gmail.com
NEW DELIVERIES
31st March ... C-GMLZ ... Boeing 737-8 MAX ... Air Canada (presumably direct to Rouge)
1st April ... C-GWJU ... Boeing 737-8 MAX ... WestJet
1st April ... C-GENL ... VIH Executive [Victoria] ... ex CN-EEE Ideation Investissements (Morocco)
8th April ... C-FRJX ... Avro RJ100 ... Summit Air [Yellowknife] ... last in service with JOTA Avn as G-JOTS
Seen in storage with the lessor as 2-TOAU at Cranfield [EGTC] when I was there in Dec 2024
CANCELLATIONS
23rd March ... C-FGAJ ... Boeing 767-223 (BDSF) ... Cargojet A/W [Hamilton] ... retired 13th March and ferried to Wilmington OH [ILN] 18th March almost 41 years old
ACCIDENTS
21st March ... further to my last post, here is a picture of C-GQSA Piper Seneca of Montair Aviation (of Pitt Meadows YPK) at Vernon [YVE] with damage after it's nose gear retracted landing on 21st March and the reg was cancelled four days later.
C-GQSA ... Piper PA-34-200T Seneca II ... Montair Aviation - photo by John Olafson on Flickr
30th March ... Cessna 172 ... at Pitt Meadows airport [YPK], an "incident" was reported around lunch time. I was there a couple of hours later unaware at the time and did not see anything untoward. A registration or operator has not been published since that I can find, but the TSB did publish this photo and there are similarities in paint scheme to C-FTLN. My photo is from a few years ago before it joined the current flying school owner and it's quite likely the wheel pants were removed since then.
Photo posted by the TSB on Flickr
C-FTLN ... Cessna 172N seen at Pitt Meadows in March 2024 before joining current owner
NEWS OF THE WEEK
30th March ... Jim Liu of AeroRoutes posts Air Canada summer longhaul updates. From YVR, Bangkok [BKK] becomes year round from 2nd May 3x weekly with 787-9, Beijing [PEK] increasing to daily from 1st May with 787-9 except between 18-26th May when 5x weekly, Dublin [DUB] summer seasonal reduced from 5 to 4 weekly with 787-9, Mexico City [MEX] switched to Rouge (remains 737-8) 26th April increasing from 7 to 11 weekly from 27th June and Sydney [SYD] switches from 777-200LR to 787-9 for May.
31st March ... The shareholders of T'Way Air approve the re-branding to Trinity Airways at their AGM - let's see if it actually happens...
1st April ... Fiji Airways annouce increase for June to 3x weekly A330-300 from Nadi [NAN] to YVR and codeshare with British Airways.
1st April ... British Airways switch BA84/5 equipment to 777-200ER, it will revert back to A350-1000 on 6th July.
3rd April ... Air Canada announce switching of YVR to Whitehorse [YXY] to Rouge 737-8 from 1st June. Currently operated by Jazz CRJ-900, it will switch to mainline A220-300 from 1st May.
6th April ... WestJet announce a temporary $60 surcharge on most bookings effective 8th April, followed by Air Canada at $50. Most US carriers are doing the same in the form of fuel or baggage surcharges. Of course this will remain a fluid situation...
6th April ... Air Canada announce new leisure routes in Central America, all currently listed as mainline with the A220-300, though it is possible some may be operated by Rouge 737-8 by the time they commence. From YVR there will be Monterrey [MTY] from 3rd December until 24th April 3x weekly, Puerto Escondido [PXM] from 7th December to 10th April 4x weekly, Liberia [LIR] from 13th December to 12th April 4x weekly and Mazatlan [MZT] from 15th December until 9th April 2x weekly
8th April ... Pacific Coastal celebrate 20 years of serving Trail [YZZ].
8th April ... CityNews and other media outlets report federal prosecutors have charged the man who hijacked a Victoria Flying Club C172 on 15th July 2025 and landed at YVR. He has pleaded guilty to two terrorism charges, one of hijacking an aircraft and one of interfering with operations at an international airport.
9th April ... Air Canada open a new AC Cafe at gate C50 for premium and Star Alliance customers.
9th April ... Hong Kong Airlines A330-300 B-LHI damaged by a pushback tug and grounded.
Photo by Paul Chu on Facebook
11th April ... British Airways equipment swap on second summer seasonal LHR BA86/7 to 787-9 on first ever visit from 787-8. Schedules remain 787-8 until 15th April when it will switch to 787-9, though it seems equipment switches can be possible at any time.
11th April ... WestJet flight WS2662 to San Jose Del Cabo [SJD] was delayed over 3 hours while a group of unruly passengers were removed from the flight by the RCMP.
12th April ... next Air Canada YVR routes to be transferred to Rouge 737-8 are Huatulco [HUX] 12th April, San Jose Del Cabo [SJD] 13th April, Miami [MIA] 15th April, Las Vegas [LAS] 17th April, Los Angeles [LAX] 19th April and Mexico City [MEX] 26th April. They join Cancun [CUN], Edmonton [YEG], Kelowna [YLW] and Puerto Vallarta [PVR].
13th April ... daily Delta Airlines service from Minneapolis St Paul [MSP] to YVR switches from A220-300 to 737-800. It will further change to twice daily from 8th May with A320 and 737-900ER.
15th April ... Flair Airlines to resume YVR to Montreal [YUL].
INTERESTING VISITORS - foreign registered and rare non scheduled visitors
2nd April ... XA-JVC ... Embraer Legacy 500 ... Servicios Aereos Across [Toluca]
2nd April ... N244FL ... BAe 125-800A ... Aviation Leasing Group [Long Beach CA]
4th April ... 9H-VCK ... Bombardier Challenger 350 ... VistaJet Malta
5th April ... N736KA ... Boeing 737-76N ... KaiserAir [Oakland CA] - Vegas Golden Knights
6th April ... T-060 ... Airbus A330-243 MRTT ... RNLAF / NATO [Eindhoven] - returned on the 8th from Misawa [MSJ], if this is going to be regular I will drop it hereafter
Photo by Brandon Siska on Flickr - inbound from Eindhoven [EIN] onward to Misawa [MSJ]
7th April ... C- GBBX ... Cessna 510 Citation Mustang ... Avalo Air [Campbell River]
Photo by Rob Reid
8th April ... C-GTEM ... Beech King Air 300/350 ... Alkan Air [Whitehorse] - re-painted in new Yukon Air Ambulance livery
8th April ... N217CK ... Gates Learjet 35A ... Kalitta Charters [Detroit MI - YIP] - built 1978
9th April ... B-KQU ... Boeing 777-367 (ER) ... Cathay Pacific A/W [Hong Kong] - 80th anniversary
Photo by King Hui on Flickr
9th April ... C-GVFK ... Avro RJ85 ... Conair Group [Abbotsford]
Photo by King Hui on Flickr - returning from fire season in Melbourne VIC [MEL]
10th April ... 9H-VID ... Bombardier Global 7500 ... VistaJet Malta
10th April ... N75435 ... Boeing 737-924 (ER) ... United A/L - Continental retrojet
Photo by Paul Chu on Facebook - I have noticed many flights have been upgraded to the -900ER
10th April ... OK-SWA ... Boeing 737-8 MAX ... Smartwings [Prague]
Positioning in empty from Prague [PRG] via Keflavik [KEF], possibly a charter for the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. Departed to Zagreb Croatia [ZAG] via KEF following day
11th April ... G-ZBKR ... Boeing 787-9 DreamLiner ... British A/W [Heathrow] - 1st ever BA 789
11th April ... N809SY ... Boeing 737-8Q8 ... Sun Country A/L [MSP] - Minnesota Gophers livery
11th April ... XA-COS ... Embraer Legacy 500 ... Fly Across [Toluca]
11th April ... N241JX ... Embraer ERJ-145 ... JetSuiteX [Dallas Love Field]
Arriving from Burbank CA and onward to Calgary - photo by King Hui on Facebook
12th April ... D-AERO ... Embraer Legacy 650 ... VistaJet Germany [Hamburg]
12th April ... 142806 ... DHC CT-142 Dash 8 Gonzo ... RCAF 402 Squadron [Winnipeg]
12th April ... D-AOTE ... Embraer Legacy 650 ... VistaJet Germany [Hamburg]
A couple of honorable mentions to Victoria with photos from Tim Martin on Flickr.
7th April ... B-65A7 ... Gulfstream G650ER ... Deer Jet Beijing [Hangzhou-Xiaoshan]
30th March ... 163560 ... Beech UC-12F Huron ... US Navy [H&HS Atsugi]
Victoria has also seen their latest deployment of Top Aces quadruplet of Alpha Jets and pair of Learjet's.
Photo by Neil Medcalf on Facebook
Excellent series on his Facebook page here https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1580814320362685&type=3
Abbotsford saw test flying of 16-5838 USAF Lockheed Martin C-130J -30 Super Hercules on 2nd April.
Apr 10th both Victoria and Abbotsford saw return home of N136CG Lockheed C-130H Hercules of Coulson Group on return from Australia.
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