Pacific Coastal Airlines is a mid-size regional airline servicing many smaller communities in British Columbia.

I recently had the opportunity to travel with Pacific Coastal Airlines from Vancouver to Victoria. This airline has a hometown feeling to it perhaps due to its smaller size than the national airlines. The staff were very friendly and the aircraft was comfortable and clean.

Although Pacific Coastal flies into the Vancouver Airport one needs to be aware that they fly into the South Terminal. The South Terminal is built for private planes, small private fishing charter flights and this commuter airline. It is a bit of fresh air to arrive in the smaller terminal building which makes for shorter walks than the large Vancouver International Airport. One has to be careful however to pay attention to the announcements for the shuttle that takes people to the main airport. We did not hear the call and ended up waiting another 45 minutes before the next shuttle trip took us to the International Airport building 5 minutes away. The shuttle whisked us away along the edge of the airstrip tarmac for the short ride.

If a person is ending their flight in Vancouver or connecting to another small community in BC serviced by Pacific Coastal Airlines there is no need to transfer to another airport terminal. This helps avoid the need to go to the busy International Airport. The south terminal building has a convenient coffee shop with plenty of choices for sandwiches and other snacks. It also has a small convenience store with the common essentials and a lottery ticket centre. It is modern looking with plenty of comfortable seats to wait in for a connecting flight.

If possible I highly recommend using the Vancouver Airport South Terminal for a great change of big city airport pace.