Alleged safety concerns at Vancouver Harbour Flight Centre (VHFC) are the latest problem stalling lease negotiations between operators of the new terminal and local float-plane giant Harbour Air.
Greg McDougall, Harbour Air president and CEO, told Business in Vancouver that his concerns are, “That [high] dock height combined with increased exposure to the swells and wind will result in unnecessary increased safety risks to both passengers and aircraft.”
He said BC Pavilion Corp. (PavCo), the operator of the Vancouver Convention Centre, has commissioned an independent study of the safety situation on the floats. VHFC chairman Graham Clarke, however, dismissed McDougall’s concerns.
“To my mind, it’s a red herring,” he said. “[McDougall] doesn’t want to move from where he is because he occupies the water lot free and he has to pay rent with us, so the longer he can stay there, the better off he is.”
Clarke said that there is no safety issue with the dock height.
“It is what it is as a requirement of the Vancouver city bylaw that says that the firefighting system has to be above the saltwater line,” he said.
This is the latest development in a saga that, in February, saw the Vancouver Commercial Seaplane Operators’ Association oppose VHFC, then under construction, because of high lease fees and launched a counter proposal to build a separate float-plane terminal on the east side of Canada Place.
(See “Seaplane operators oppose levy at new terminal” – BIV Business Today, January 17.)
That second proposal, the Harbour Hub, has met resistance from Port Metro Vancouver.
The VHFC opened in late May with tenants Seair Seaplanes and Tofino Air.
Jenny Wagler
Twitter: JennyWagler_BIV