Heightened airspace security during the 2010 Winter Olympics, which will re-route Vancouver-bound Sechelt float plane traffic through Nanaimo, is poised to hurt local flight operators.
"It's affecting quite a few operators in a big way," said Sean Evans, operations manager for Tofino Air, which operates out of Porpoise Bay.
Olympic airspace security measures require that airplanes flying within a 30-nautical-mile "Olympic ring" around Vancouver International Airport (YVR), as well as Pemberton Airport, declare their flight path. As well, airplanes flying within a 13-nautical-mile ring from those airports, as well as from the Sea-to-Sky Corridor, must go through security screening, said Const. Mandy Edwards from the V2010 Integrated Security Unit.
"If you were flying into Vancouver from Sechelt, you would have to stop at one of the pre-approved screening sites and have passengers, your flight crew and your plane screened," she said.
Evans said this means that float plane flights from Sechelt to YVR will be re-routed to Nanaimo for the mandatory security check, tripling the flight time of 22 minutes to over an hour. Normally, he said, float planes aren't subject to security checks, which is what makes them so fast.
"The big problem [in having to fly to Nanaimo] is that we're putting extra time on the plane, which is maintenance costs as well as fuel, and we can't pass that on to the customer because basically it would be double the price. And we can't do that. If we raise our prices, would you really want to fly with us, for the extra time?" he asked.
The result is that Tofino Air will have to absorb all the extra costs.
"We're eating it," he said.
Beyond the extra operating costs, Evans expects business may slow down, if customers are put off by the added flight time.
"I think regular customers who would fly back and forth because they had to do business or something might take the ferry just because of the inconvenience," he said. "But that being said, there's going to be so many traffic delays in downtown Vancouver as well. So I don't know."
Evans said the new measures will also restrict what float plane passengers can take on planes, as all float plane baggage is carry-on and will become subject to the same carry-on restrictions passengers face on international flights.
"You can't bring certain liquids on, you can't bring your scissors or something like that on the plane in your carry on baggage," he said. "All of those items you wanted to carry on before, can't go."
But Evans deems this a "minor inconvenience" compared with the increased flight time for passengers and increased costs for operators.
Edwards said the security restrictions, which will be in effect between Jan. 29 and March 24, 2010 but not for the ensuing Paralympic Games, are standard for any major event.
"It's nothing new here, we're not creating the wheel. Any major event of this magnitude you would see these kind of restrictions, obviously for safety and protection of everyone - the athletes, the spectators," Edwards said. "You don't want people flying over the venues. There are security issues with that, so it's just to regulate the airspace, know who's coming and going. And with a major event like this, it's quite common."
Evans said that there has been talk of compensating operators for some of their losses following the Olympics, but Edwards said that nothing has yet been decided on that front.
"No final decisions have been made at this point regarding compensation, and no funding is set aside within our [Integrated Security Unit] budget for matters of possible compensation," she said. "So when that comes out, we'll keep everyone informed."
