Canadian Flight Centre has substantially completed construction on an eco-friendly hangar in Kamloops, British Columbia. The build started in October 2020, on a lot adjacent to its existing office building. The hangar is extremely energy efficient and completely solar-powered; it should even return energy to the grid. It is also providing power to multiple public electric vehicle chargers, thus allowing accessible charging for the community. There remain some finishing touches to put in place before the planned opening in Spring 2022.

The company is midway through renovations to its hangar at Pitt Meadows, Vancouver as well, where many of the same green technologies will be applied. “Our goal in undertaking these renovations is to not only future-proof our own business and build the infrastructural foundations that will be needed when commercial electric planes become viable for our business, but also as a prototype and proof-of-concept for other businesses in the aviation community,” says manager, pilot and ‘whatever-it-takes’ Anna Serbinenko. “In this way, we hope to be a leader in the transition to sustainability in the aviation industry.” Supply chain issues and a shortage of labour have meant things have taken slightly longer than hoped for, but the company still expects to finish in the Spring, and definitely before it starts training the next group of DND Air Cadets in July.

Moving in 2019 from its previous base at Boundary Bay airport to the Pitt Meadows location was a necessary step for company expansion. “Not only did Boundary Bay not have land for us to build our hangar on, it gave prime aviation land to non-aviation companies at a high price and there was a toxic business environment in which the general aviation community there felt overlooked,” says Serbinenko. “At Pitt Meadows, with its efficient, business-minded manager Guy Miller, who is a pilot himself, we felt welcome and at home right away. We were able to purchase one hangar and rent another for our maintenance division Halcyon Aviation.”

Over the past two years CFC has increased its presence on the field to a total of five hangars and a large aircraft parking lot, enabling it to expand its speciality aircraft maintenance, charter and aviation training businesses. Going forward, the company expects to lease yet more land for further development and to create more avenues through which it can grow its charter flight service across the Lower Mainland.

In November last year, CFC was involved in rescue efforts after heavy rain and subsequent flooding in Hope and Chilliwack left many communities across British Columbia cut off. People needed warm clothes and food, some had lost their cars, grocery stores were emptied in just a few hours. A group of volunteer pilots, two from CFC among them, flew in to rescue people and deliver very much needed supplies. "We landed on the grass field of Hope in BC,” says Serbinenko. “And all our volunteer pilot flights were provided completely free of charge. Not so some of the helicopter and larger regional charter companies who tripled their charter rates.”