The Vancouver Harbour Flight Centre (VHFC) is launching legal proceedings against BC Pavilion Corp. (PavCo) for failing to close Harbour Air’s temporary float plane facility just to the west of the new terminal.
“Our patience with PavCo is at an end,” VHFC president Paul McElligott said Tuesday. “We have fulfilled our contractual obligations; regrettably, PavCo has not.”
McElligott called VHFC a “safe and modern facility” and stated that two float-plane airlines “have safely and efficiently operated hundreds of flights in and out of that facility for more than nine months.”
“We will now seek a resolution of this matter through the courts,” he said.
McElligott also contended that a PavCo investigation of the November 5, 2011, sinking of a Harbour Air single otter aircraft while docked at VHFC found that it was not caused by VHFC.
According to McElligott, the PavCo report into the incident states that the primary cause was “the inadequate frequency of the checks for water in the aircraft float by Harbour Air personnel.”
In late February, Business in Vancouver reported that PavCo and the provincial government withheld an independent engineering report into the safety of VHFC.
The VHFC opened last May but has remained largely empty after Harbour Air refused to move its business there due to what the company said were fees that penalized passengers.
