There is competition coming for the air route between Victoria and Seattle.
Delta Airlines announced it will start daily service between the two cities, three times a day, in April 2016. The announcement is part of a suite of new services from Delta, which previously indicated it intended to see two per cent capacity growth across its system in the 2015 fiscal year.
Delta will also add new service from its hub at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to Boston, Orlando and Pasco, Washington.
The 40-minute flights between Victoria and Seattle will start April 4 and will be operated by Delta connection carrier SkyWest on a 65-seat CRJ-700.
The flights leave Seattle at 10:55 a.m., 2:10 p.m. and 9:55 p.m. daily and will leave Victoria at 6:00 a.m., 12:15 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.
Victoria Airport Authority chief executive Geoff Dickson said the new flights will boost both tourism and business.
“Victoria International Airport has hit record growth every month since November 2013 right through until April of 2015. We’ve had measured capacity growth and the carriers are seeing Victoria is a vibrant tourist destination, a vibrant tech market and they are seeing the business opportunity,” Dickson said. “So carriers like Delta who are doing analysis of market sizes see an opportunity to come in and serve the market.”
For Victorians, Dickson said they will now have improved access to Delta’s hub at Sea-Tac, where the airline operates 128 daily flights.
Currently, Alaska Airlines (Horizon) operates five flights between Victoria and Seattle on a 76-seat Q400 aircraft.
Dickson said the Delta announcement won’t be the last expansion of service. “We are investing in apron capacity now to accommodate more aircraft,” he said, noting they have committed $8.2 million for that project. “Our challenge is to be a little ahead of the demand curve, so we are planning slow and steady growth of three per cent between now and the next five years.”
The airport expects a record 1.7 million passengers through its gates this year, surpassing last year’s record 1.65 million.
