Good afternoon from Vancouver International Airport!
My name is Alex, and welcome back to the channel.
Today, I’m flying out of YVR’s South Terminal with Pacific Coastal, on board their Beechcraft 1900D!
This’ll be a pretty brief flight over to Victoria, on Vancouver Island.
The Vancouver to Victoria route is an interesting one,
as the two airports are just 60 kilometres apart, but separated by the Strait of Georgia,
along with some of the best scenery that Western Canada has to offer.
Vancouver’s South Terminal is separate from the larger Main Terminal, and is mainly used
by regional airlines like Pacific Coastal.
For them in particular, it’s actually their
largest hub, with most of their services throughout BC connecting through Vancouver.
As such, the South Terminal doesn’t quite have the amenities of its larger counterpart,
with only this waiting area after security.
Even so, it’s not bad by any means,
there’s lots of natural light, and this whole part of YVR has some amazing history.
Our aircraft for today, like I said earlier, is a Beechcraft 1900D, registered as...
This 1900 was just over 27 years old at the time of filming, and seats just 19 passengers.
Longtime viewers of the channel already know of my affinity for these regional airliners.
Though I’ve flown with Pacific Coastal a few times, this’ll
be my first flight on their Beech 1900D model specifically. Let’s go check it out!
At the time of filming this last summer, Pacific Coastal still had open seating,
so I picked seat 8A in the back.
Boarding was complete in a matter of seconds since
there were just three of us on board today’s flight!
That meant plenty of extra space for me, as Beech 1900s aren’t known for their amazing legroom.
Another quirk of the 1900 is that the windows are all tinted slightly orange
instead of having window shades, so I’ve tried to colour-correct the footage as best as I can.
Soon enough though, the friendly crew up front fired up the engines and we
were taxiing out for departure, off of Vancouver’s runway 08R.
With that quick turn out to the southwest, we headed towards the Strait of Georgia.
Unlike the ferries that connect Vancouver Island with the mainland, the Strait is
very quickly crossed when you’re in a turboprop doing 200 knots!
Although the 1900D is relatively small as far as airliners go,
each seat does have a tray table which mostly fits over my knees.
There’s also a fairly sizable seatback pocket, with a safety card and air sickness bag.
Pacific Coastal did have an inflight magazine when I flew with them in fall
2019, but obviously things were a bit different last summer.
Each seat also has this small air vent below the windows.
Speaking of windows, my favourite part of flying the 1900 is the view out the front!
Obviously it’s not the best from the very back,
but as a lifelong aviation enthusiast, I still think it’s ridiculously cool.
Since the flight was so short, we were also cruising at just 2,000 feet,
and that led to some amazing views below as we approached Vancouver Island.
This flight was the third one in a long day of flying on only turboprops,
and these views in the late afternoon were just spectacular.
Please enjoy this scenic arrival into Victoria, landing on runway 14.
So, that was Pacific Coastal’s Beechcraft 1900D from Vancouver to Victoria!
After just 12 minutes in the air, from lifting off in Vancouver to touching down in Victoria,
I can confidently say this was my shortest flight to date!
I really like flying with Pacific Coastal, they’re a great regional airline, and
honestly, what’s not to like when you’re flying around such a beautiful part of the country?
If you’re flying a 1900D model, it’s even better - you’ve got tons of headroom with huge windows,
but still the same small airplane feel to it.
I realize saying all of this that I may be part of a very exclusive club
of Beech 1900 fans, but they really are fun to fly on.
On a clear summer day like this, Vancouver to Victoria really is a fun flight to experience,
and I’d highly recommend it to anyone that’s interested.
I can’t wait to make it back out to the coast sometime this summer,
and I’ll hopefully be flying with Pacific Coastal again when I do!
As always, thank you so much for watching this trip report!
I do genuinely appreciate all the support lately, especially from my channel members,
I really wouldn’t be able to make these videos without you.
Thanks again for watching, and I’ll see you next time!