Vancouver-Seattle float plane link imminent
‘Nerd bird’ route could help bring Amazon’s second headquarters to Lower Mainland
Direct float plane flights connecting downtown Vancouver and Seattle are expected to be running regularly by next spring, but Vancouver’s mayor says the service can’t come soon enough.
And with hundreds of North American cities and regions vying to host a new second headquarters for tech giant Amazon, the folks behind Vancouver’s bid hope increased connectivity, including float planes, along the so-called Cascadia corridor could boost Vancouver’s chances.
Last Thursday marked the deadline for proposals from North American cities trying to become the home of a second headquarters for Amazon, the Seattle-based online retailer. Metro Vancouver’s proposal, led by the Vancouver Economic Commission, was delivered to Amazon last week.
Vancouver is hardly alone. A reported 238 cities and regions submitted proposals, Amazon said Monday.
In an emailed statement on Monday, VEC manager of research and analysis James Raymond said: “In our proposal to Amazon, we’ve really leaned into our proximity to Seattle, simply because there are so many options to take advantage of how short the distance is and how much of a logistical asset that is.”
Harbour Air has been working out details on the plan with the Canada Border Services Agency, as Postmedia reported last month. An inquiry sent Monday to the CBSA was not returned by deadline.
Harbour Air president Randy Wright said Monday the partnership with Washington-based Kenmore Air is still “on track” to begin operation by next spring, pending CBSA approval.
Meanwhile, Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson told Postmedia on Monday the float plane route between the downtown cores “is long overdue,” and “can’t happen soon enough.”
That lack of a downtown-to-downtown float plane connection is “a limiting factor for all the companies doing business back and forth with Seattle, from Amazon and Microsoft to our local companies doing work in Seattle,” Robertson said. “It’s absurd that we don’t have regular-scheduled float planes between downtown Vancouver and Seattle. … We have a lousy connection by road and airport — it’s not efficient.”
Robertson said he believed the Vancouver-Seattle service would be approved and operational “imminently,” adding “it’s bizarre” that it isn’t running already.
The Vancouver-Seattle float plane — or, as Raymond calls it, “nerd bird” — route is one of four inter-regional transport options the VEC has discussed over the past year, he said, along with high-speed rail, a hyperloop (a network of tubes zipping passengers around in pods), and a dedicated lane for autonomous or self-driving vehicles between Vancouver and Seattle.
This week, the VEC is bringing together local stakeholders for discussions with representatives from Washington and Oregon on a “highspeed Cascadia train line,” Raymond said.