Pacific Coastal and WestJet are amping up flights to and from Penticton Airport.
Today, it was announced that Pacific Coastal Airlines will double service in Penticton from one flight a day to two, effective April 27.
In the same announcement, WestJet will also effectively double flights between Penticton and Calgary from six weekly to 11 weekly.
WestJet to Calgary
The WestJet bump is calculated that way because it currently flies between Penticton and Calgary daily, except Tuesdays.
So, that means flights six days a week on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
On June 12, WestJet will add a second, seasonal flight that will fly until the end of October, five days a week.
The new flight will arrive in Penticton from Calgary at 9:53 pm.
The plane will overnight in Penticton and then depart for Calgary at 6 am the next morning.
WestJet's current, permanent service is the aforementioned daily (except Tuesdays) with the plane leaving Calgary at 2:15 pm local time to arrive in Penticton at 2:32 pm and then the plane turns around and departs Penticton at 3:10 pm and gets to Calgary at 5:16 pm local time.
Remember, the time zone in Alberta is one hour ahead of BC.
One-way fares on the Penticton-Calgary route start at $130.
WestJet uses a 78-seat Q400 tubo-propellor plane on the route.
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Pacific Coastal to Vancouver
Effective April 27, Pacific Coastal will add a second daily flight between Penticton and Vancouver.
The first of the flights will leave Vancouver at 7:55 am and arrive in Penticton at 8:47 am and then the plane will turn around to depart Penticton at 9:20 am for landing in Vancouver at 10:15 am.
The second flight departs Vancovuer at 4:10 pm to arrive in Penticton at 5:02 pm and then the same plane takes off from Penticton at 5:35 pm and lands in Vancouver at 6:30 pm.
Also starting April 27, Pacific Coastal will start flying the bigger, 34-seat Saab320 turbo-propellor plane on the route, an upsizing from the 19-seat Beechcraft 1900D turbo-prop it currently uses.
The Pacific Coastal service to Vancouver and the WestJet route to Calgary are currently the only flights in and out of Penticton Airport.
Air Canada pulled its flights between Penticton and Vancouver in January.
There may be a seasonal service to Edmonton, but nothing has been announced yet.
