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Nanaimo travelers will have another option to get to Vancouver on weekends

Nov 25, 2016 | 11:00 AM

NANAIMO — Another option for getting over to Vancouver on the weekend is coming — and just in time for Christmas.

Helijet has been operating weekday flights in Nanaimo since March of 2015. Next month they’ll be expanding to weekends.

Spokesman Rick Hill says their passengers have been calling for this for some time now.

“For shopping, for concerts, for hockey games, for all kinds of things, we’ve had people asking and wondering how they can get over and get back quickly and efficiently,” said Hill. “I think it opens up that leisure market and visiting friends and relatives. All of those kinds of things come on to the table when you have weekend service.”

According to Hill their 12 passenger flights are operating at between 40-80 per cent full.

He notes that the decision to add three round trips on both Saturday and Sunday isn’t just for leisure passengers.

“People who are traveling to Vancouver for business on Friday sometimes like to stay over. Their ability to get home, say on the weekend, is important. Same thing, they may want to head out on a weekend and get to their destination on a Sunday so they can start right on Monday,” said Hill.

The new weekend flights will begin on Dec. 24, adding to the current schedule of six weekday round trips between Nanaimo and the lower mainland.