Air China Chooses Prince George as Alternate Airport
 

Air China said on Wednesday it would add three more flights a week from Beijing to Vancouver, boosting the total number of non-stop flights from China Mainland to Canada to 22 a week.

The additional flights will start operating in June, the national carrier said. Prince George Airport is the chosen alternate airport should flights need to be diverted from Vancouver International Airport.

Last September, Air China was invited to attend the Open Skies Summit in Vancouver sponsored by the Governments of B.C., Alberta and Saskatchewan, and this led us to visit the city of Prince George to view the expanded runway and other facilities completed in 2009, said Solloway. Our decision to choose Prince George as our alternate airport over Calgary or Seattle further strengthens our ties to B.C.

"Our goal is to stimulate both business and leisure travel to open up opportunities for Canadian companies to increase business in China and vice versa," said the advisor.

According to Tourism British Columbia figures, 99,405 Chinese visitors entered Canada via Vancouver in 2008 and the number of Chinese visitors is expected to increase after China added Canada to its approved-destination-of-tourism list in 2009.

British Columbia is the second most popular destination for Chinese visitors after the province of Ontario, receiving some 100,000 Chinese visitors in 2008, partly because British Columbia is home to about 300,000 Chinese now residing in the province.

prince george oO

i guess it makes more sense than Abbotsford if flights need to be diverted due to weather

LOL the white people living in PG is gonna be pissed when they see the mainlanders

Air China and Cathay Pacific to for cargo airline joint venture

Cathay Pacific announced on Thursday that it has signed a framework agreement with Air China to establish a jointly owned cargo airline.

The companies will use Air China Cargo Co Ltd (ACC), a wholly owned subsidiary of Air China as the platform for the joint venture.

Following completion of the transaction, ACC will continue to be a subsidiary of Air China, which will hold 51% equity in the company. Cathay Pacific Group will acquire a 25% equity interest directly in ACC and will fund an offshore trust, in the form of a loan, to hold another 24% interest.

The total value of the Cathay Pacific Group's investment in the joint venture will be CNY1,669m.

Air China Cargo (ACC) will commence operations as a joint venture airline in summer this year.

donno how thats gonna work but cathay pacific ftw

Except that when weather sucks in the GVRD, it sucks HARD in PG. Good news for my brother, who lives there, anyways.

Yeah but at least in shitty winter weather, the people at the PG airport know what to do and have the right equipment to deal with it.

Prince George is a major logistics port and business hub to Northern BC. This should be good business for the province. Good to hear that China is expanding and investing here. (Well, two ways to see this...)

Very interesting...

Isn't Prince George the place where all ex convicts hide out from the law?

Mind you, Abbotsford has the highest crime rate in the nation.

woo hoo! this is the biggest thing to happen to PG since... well ever... lol

last time i was at prince george there were a bunch of first natives that hung around in the streets and they looked intimidating

So let me get this straight.. they have the option to fly from china to vancouver or PG? Or is PG a last minute detour if there is problems at YVR?


Also I wonder if people who choose to fly to PG even know where the hell it is..


Chinese ticket buyer: I want to go to Vancouver
Teller: No im sorry the flight is booked, but we can send you to our other BC destination. Prince George.
Chinese Ticket buyer: Ok, i'll take 4.


12-14 hours later, they lands in PG.

Chinese family gets luggage, speaks little english, finds taxi.
"vancouver Please"

ok that will be $1400.


"FFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU"

^ the flight will only go to PG if it cant land at YVR due to weather or the runway being shut down.

i find it strange they picked PG instead of Kelowna with our new runway. especially with being about 15 hours closer driving time to vancouver. and our status as an international airport which i dont think PG is.

edit: wow! PG just finished a runway expansion. their runway is now the 3rd longest in canada behind calgary and vancouver

PG -> Vancouver = 775km. I do the trip in 7.5-9 hours, depending on conditions. Greyhound takes 12 hours and they make at least 7 stops on the way.

lol i got failed by the chinamen..losers at least support your fails by a reply.

i think my post is warranted by a personal experience..visited melbourne australia in mid 90's with the fam and we were probably the only asians within a 1000 mile radius...everyone GLARED at us lol.

same shit will apply to PG...especially at the ill-mannered mainlanders.

and no way does it take 18 hours to get to PG..i thought 10 hour is more realistic.

PG is closer to the path that a transpacific flight would take than Kelowna (which is actually a pretty big detour). I don't think the intent is ever to shuffle people off a plane and into a bus.

I believe carrying fuel to get to Kelowna as a secondary would mean additional weight on every flight which of course increases operating costs.

Not to mention that PG is in the middle of the interior plateau, rarely ever gets so socked in that flights can't land.