Harbour Air has been operating since 1982 and, with more than 30 aircrafts, is the largest all-float plane airline in the world. Harbour Air offers a number of tours in the Vancouver area, including the Vancouver Panorama Tour, which takes you around the main sites of Vancouver for 30 minutes. The Alpine Lakes and Glaciers Tour, which takes you over the 8,500-foot Mount Mamquam and stops on secluded lake for lunch, and the Mail Run tour takes you to some of the West Coast's more remote villages. Harbour Air also offers daily float plane flights to Victoria, Nanaimo, Comox, Sechelt and the Gulf Islands. As of 2010, the Panorama Tour costs $99 per person, Alpine Lakes and Glaciers is $275 and the Mail Run is $185.
West Coast Air offers daily scheduled flights, charter service and tours with its 18-seat deHavilland Twin Otter and six-seat deHavilland Beaver aircraft. Scheduled flights depart from Vancouver to Victoria, Nanaimo and Comox daily and flights can be chartered for customized business or leisure trips in the southern and western British Columbia. Standard float plane tour options include trips to Butchart Gardens in Victoria; 30-minute flights over Vancouver and flights to Victoria combined with whale-watching tours. As of 2010, the Butchart Gardens tour starts at $419, the 30-minute Vancouver tour is $99 and the Victoria/Whale-watching tour is $339.
Seair Seaplanes offer daily flights from Vancouver's float plane terminal to Nanaimo and destinations in the Gulf Islands, including Salt Spring, Galiano and Pender Islands. Charter service is also available to destinations in southern and western British Columbia and the U.S. Pacific Northwest. Scenic return flights along the Sunshine Coast Princess Louisa Inlet, to glacier-fed Lake Lovely Water and over the city of Vancouver are also available. As of 2010, flights to Nanaimo are $67.50 and flights to Gulf Island destinations start at $89.
