BC news roundup - weeks 20 & 21

A round up of aviation news in BC/YT and with major airlines who serve BC.  All photos my own unless stated.  

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

14th May ... C-GEHY ... Boeing 737-8 MAX ... Air Canada Rouge ... transferred from AC

14th May ... C-GUEH ... Eurocopter AS350B3 AStar ... Echo Helicopters [Lumby] ... ex N709SD

15th May ... C-GOHP ... Bell 407 ... Quantum Helicopters [Terrace] ... ex N405PJ

21st May ... C-FSCD ... Cessna 525B CitationJet Cj3+ ... Airsprint [Calgary] ... ex N509WC

CANCELLATIONS

12th May ... C-GELX ... PZL 104M Wilga 2000 ... Private [Fort Langley] ... to N289WL

Normally outside the scope of this blog as a GA type, but due to it's rarity as a Polish built aircraft particularly on floats I have included it - seen at YVR back in 2011 and the following year at home base Fort Langley (not to be confused with Langley YNJ)

14th May ... C-FSRW ... Bombardier Dash 8-Q402 ... Jazz Air (AC Express) ... believed sold to Umza Express of Abuja Nigeria.  Ex SkyRegional frame retired 26th March 2020 and stored in YVR and moved to Muskoka ON 17th November 2020 until 9th May 2026, registered to World Wide Ferry since 20th November 2020.

15th May ... C-GMNI ... Dassault Falcon 50EX ... Anderson Air [Vancouver] ... to N849EA

C-GMNI was also formerly C-GWFK (as below) and C-GWFM

19th May ... C-FLWE ... Eurocopter EC135 P2+ ... Heli Welders [Langley] ... to N348MH

ACCIDENTS

None.

NEWS OF THE WEEK

13th May ... Allegiant A/L and Sun Country A/L have officially merged, the transaction closed on the 18th and they will be maintained as separate entities for now.  Limited Minneapolis St Paul MN [MSP] scheduled service resumes for this summer twice a week Wednesday and Saturday from 10th June SY1041/2 arr 1057 dep 1157 plus one off flights 21st July and 9th August, last Saturday flight is 22nd August and final flight a one off 28th August.  Presumably MLS flights will continue post merger for the 26/27 season.

14th May ... Delta A/L A320 N366NW operating DL2875 to Minneapolis St Paul MN [MSP] diverted to Spokane WA [GEG] after crew reported constant vibration in the cabin and a flapping noise near the overwing exit.

15th May ... Jim Liu of Aero Routes reports Turkish A/L are adding four extra World Cup roundtrip flights TK4805/6 from Istanbul [IST] with 787-9 on 10th, 12th, 14th and 15th June - details added to the diary section below.

18th May ... Jim Liu of Aero Routes reports Air Canada and Korean Air launch a reciprocal codeshare partnership.  AC on KE flights from Seoul [ICN] to Bangkok [BKK], Da Nang [DAD] and Hong Kong [HKG] and KE on AC flights from Toronto [YYZ] to Halifax [YHZ], Montreal [YUL] and Ottawa [YOW].

18th May ... Jim Liu also reports additional filed codeshare routes by WestJet on Fiji A/W flights from Nadi [NAN] to New Zealand from mid May to Auckland [AKL], Christchurch [CHC] and Wellington [WLG].

19th May ... Jim Liu reports Air Canada have updgraded Cancun [CUN] from 737-8 to 787-9 from 1st December on AC1314/1317 dep 0915 arr 2300.

19th May ... the rumoured shut down of the RCAF Snowbirds aerobatic team was officially confirmed after the completion of the 2026 season.  Dates in BC already listed in the diary section below, the final display in Canada is currently published as Gatineau QC 18-20th September with final performances being Huntingdon Beach CA 3rd-4th October and Sacramento CA 10-11th September.  In the light of this announcement, I would not be surprised there will be a further goodbye ceremony or flypast in Canada.  Replacement with be the Pilatus PC-21 which will be named the CT-157 Siskin II, but not until "early 2030's" so there will probably be at least six seasons with no team.  As an aside, the original Siskin was a decidedly average British aircraft from Armstrong Whitworth that served the RCAF between 1926 - 1939 including the Siskins aerobatic team.

Image created by Reddit user VaunBob

Original Armstrong Whitworth Siskin flying as "The Siskins" dispaly team, image from Wikipedia

20th May ... Jim Liu reports Lufthansa have replaced the previously scheduled A340-300 with 787-9 on the daily Frankfurt [FRA] route for the winter season effective 25th October.

21st May ... Jim Liu reports on winter increases from Flair A/L to Cancun [CUN] between 6th January - 15th February from 4 to 5 weekly and Puerto Vallarta [PVR] from 16th February from 8 to 9 weekly.

22nd May ... Jim Liu reports Icelandair have removed A321XLR from the schedule previously amended for 8th January, remains 737-8 4x weekly (Monday, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday) arr YVR 1805 dep 1535 +1.

FOR THE DIARY - from YVR unless stated

5th June ... ANA commence seasonal Tokyo Narita [NRT] service NH135/6 arr 1040 dep 1230 until 31st August with 787-9 to complement their existing Haneda [HND] service.

10th June ... Sun Country A/L seasonal SY1041/2 arr 1057 dep 1157 commences from Minneapolis St Paul [MSP] until 28th August.

10th June ... additional World Cup Turkish TK4905/6 with 787-9 arr 1910 dep 2105.

11th June .... Harbour Air new service from Victoria Harbour [YWH] to Seattle Lake Union WA [LKE].

11th June ... Jetblue commence seasonal Boston [BOS] service with A320 B649/50 arr 2035 dep 2140.

12th June ... additional World Cup Turkish TK4905/6 with 787-9 arr 1900 dep 2055.

14th June ... additional World Cup Turkish TK4905/6 with 787-9 arr 1855 dep 2055.

15th June ... additional World Cup Turkish TK4905/6 with 787-9 arr 1950 dep 2145.

15th June ... Porter A/L commence Montreal St Hubert [YHU] PD373/4.

19th June ... WestJet commence Comox [YQQ] from Toronto [YYZ] WS832/3.

25th June ... Harbour Air commence downtown Vancouver Coal Harbour [CXH] to Ucluelet [AN3].

29th June ... one off upgrade on BA86/87 from London Heathrow [LHR] to 787-9.

1st July ... BA86/7 second London Heathrow [LHR] flights changes from 787-8 to 777-200ER until 1st September when it reverts to 787-8 until final flight 1st October.

6th July ... BA84/5 from London Heathrow [LHR] changes from 777-200ER to A350-1000 until 8th September when it reverts back for winter season.

6th July ... Harbour Air commence downtown Vancouver Coal Harbour [CXH] to Campbell River, The Spit water aerodrome [YHH] opposed to YBL.

25th July ... Vanderhoof airshow, also 26th for a two day event celebrating 100 years of Vanderhoof.

1st August ... Air Canada weekly AC315/6 787-9 service to Honolulu [HNL] until 7th September.

4th August ... Canadian Snowbirds display in Victoria.

7th August ... Abbotsford Airshow, also 8th and 9th incl Canadian Snowbirds.

12th August ... Canadian Snowbirds display over White Rock - the last time in BC

15th August ... Chilliwack Flight Fest.

22nd August ... Air North resume seasonal Yellowknife [YZF].

31st August ... final summer seasonal ANA service from Narita [NRT].

8th September ... BA84/5 from London Heathrow [LHR] switches from A350-1000 to 777-200ER.

18th September ... final British A/W BA2278/9 summer seasonal from London Gatwick [LGW].

1st October ... final British A/W BA86/7 summer seasonal from London Heathrow [LHR].

22nd October .... final summer seasonal Edelweiss Air from Zurich [ZRH].

25th October ... Lufthansa from Frankfurt [FRA] switches from 747-400 to 787-9.

25th October ... final summer seasonal Condor from Frankfurt [FRA].

26th October ... KLM from Amsterdam [AMS] switches from 777-300ER to A330-200.

1st December ... Air Canada AC1314/1317 to Cancun [CUN] upgrades to 787-9.

December ... new Air Canada (Rouge) seasonal services : 3rd Monterrey [MTY], 7th Puerto Escondido [PXM], 13th Liberia [LIR], 15th Mazatlan [MZT] and 17th Sapporo-Chitose [CTS] (mainline).

INTERESTING VISITORS - foreign registered, special liveries and rare non scheduled visitors

13th May ... TF-ICB ... Boeing 737-9 ... Icelandair ... upgrade from usual -8

Photo by Christian Ordanza on Facebook

16th My ... VH-ZNJ ... Boeing 787-9 ... Qantas ... 100th anniversary c/s

Photo by Dillon Dennis on Facebook

17th May ... JA894A ... Boeing 787-9 ... ANA ... Pikachu Jet c/s

Photo by Qi Chen on Facebook

17th May ... N75435 ... Boeing 737-924 (ER) ... United A/L ... Continental retro c/s

Photo by Qi Chen on Facebook

19th May ... N905NN ... Boeing 737-823 ... American A/L ... Astrojet retro c/s

Photo by Dillon Dennis on Facebook

21st May ... B-KQU ... Boeing 777-367 (ER) ... Cathay Pacific ... Spirit of HL 80th anniversary c/s

Photo by Chung Kwok on Facebook

22nd May ... B-2007 ... Boeing 777-31B (ER) ... China Southern A/L ... WorldSkills Shanghai c/s

Photo by Kendal Emerak on Facebook

22nd May ... 144619 ... Bombardier CC-144D Challenger  ... RCAF 412 Squadron [Trenton ON]

23rd May ... 9H-VJK ... Bombardier Global 7500 ... VistaJet Malta

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