Harbour Air

In Vancouver you do not have to go to the airport to see aircraft. In the middle of the city, between the cruise terminal, the marina and the high-rises, seaplanes touch down and tie up at floating docks. Almost all of them belong to Harbour Air. The airline from British Columbia flies Beavers and Otters that were built decades ago, and has still managed to get one of the world’s first electric aircraft into the air. Here you will learn how Harbour Air is structured, which types it flies and where to photograph it best.

Harbour Air at a glance

Harbour Air is a regional airline from British Columbia that flies almost exclusively seaplanes. Its headquarters are in Richmond near Vancouver. It is considered North America’s largest seaplane airline, counts itself among the largest all-seaplane airlines in the world and cites up to 200 flights a day to 13 destinations on the west coast. Most routes are short: many flights last no longer than half an hour.

The business model is called “downtown to downtown.” Instead of departing from an airport on the edge of town, the aircraft take off right in the harbor. If you want to get from Vancouver to Victoria, you board in Coal Harbour and get off again in Victoria’s Inner Harbour, a few steps from the Parliament Buildings. For many commuters and business travelers, that is faster than the ferry plus the trip to the terminal.

Harbour Air does not belong to an alliance. There is a partnership with Aeroplan, the frequent flyer program of Air Canada, though: through the Harbour Air Club loyalty program launched in 2025, members earn Aeroplan points on many fares. The airline’s head is Bert van der Stege; founder Greg McDougall became known mainly as the pilot of the first electric flight.

Codes and registrations

• IATA code YB: appears in flight numbers and in the booking system.
• Water aerodromes with their own codes: Vancouver Harbour Flight Centre has the IATA code CXH (ICAO CYHC), Victoria Inner Harbour the IATA code YWH (ICAO CYWH).
• Registrations: All aircraft are registered in Canada and carry a registration beginning with C-F or C-G.

As with all small seaplane airlines: do not rely on the flight tracker alone. The aircraft fly low over water and between islands, and not every flight shows up continuously on the map. You will hear a radial-engine Beaver before you see it anyway.

History: from two aircraft to the largest seaplane airline

Harbour Air began in 1982 under the name Windoak Air Service. With two seaplanes and two pilots, the young company flew charters for the forestry industry on the coast of British Columbia. The founder is Greg McDougall, himself an experienced Beaver pilot.

Scheduled service was added as early as 1984, and the fleet grew to eight aircraft. The Twin Otter joined in 1986, and in the early 1990s Harbour Air fundamentally converted the single-engine Otter – the basis of today’s Turbo Otter fleet. Reference sources also mention the acquisition of Trans-Provincial Airlines in 1993.

The most important route today, Vancouver–Victoria, started in 1996. Two years later, Nanaimo on Vancouver Island was added. In the 2010s, Harbour Air bought several competitors:

Year	Event
1982	Founding as Windoak Air Service with two aircraft
1984	Start of scheduled service, eight aircraft
1986	First Twin Otter
1996	Start of the Vancouver–Victoria route
1998	First flights to Nanaimo
2004	Harbour Air Aerospace Services, its own maintenance division, is added
2007	According to the airline, North America’s first carbon-neutral airline (through emissions offsetting)
2010	Acquisition of West Coast Air
2012	Acquisition of Whistler Air
2015	Acquisition of Salt Spring Air
2018	First scheduled flights to Seattle and to Tofino
2019	First flight of the electric Beaver
2025	Launch of the Harbour Air Club loyalty program, later with Aeroplan points
2026	New routes to Ucluelet, Campbell River and Victoria–Seattle

A curious chapter: in 2007, according to reference sources, Harbour Air founded an offshoot in Malta that flew with a Turbo Otter. The group also includes Tantalus Air, with its own operating certificate.

The fleet: Beaver, Otter and Twin Otter

The fleet is the reason spotters travel to Vancouver. Harbour Air itself speaks of over 40 aircraft of four types. Reference sources reproduce the airline’s fleet page in summer 2026 with 37 aircraft. Take the numbers as a snapshot – aircraft regularly move into the shop for overhauls.

Type	Number (approx.)	Passengers	Spotter note
DHC-2 Beaver	9	up to 6	The classic with a radial engine, including the eBeaver
DHC-3 Otter (Turbo Otter)	22	up to 14	Most common type, turbine with a long nose
DHC-6 Twin Otter	4	up to 19	Only twin-engine aircraft on floats
Cessna 208B Grand Caravan EX	2	9	On wheels, for routes between airports

The DHC-2 Beaver is the airline’s symbol. The rugged high-wing aircraft was built for the Canadian bush and is long since a classic. Harbour Air still flies it daily in scheduled service, maintained in its own maintenance division.

The real workhorse is the DHC-3 Otter. At Harbour Air it flies with a turbine instead of a piston engine and can therefore be recognized by its long, slim nose. It carries significantly more passengers than the Beaver and serves the in-demand routes between Vancouver, Victoria and Nanaimo.

For larger groups, Harbour Air uses the DHC-6 Twin Otter. All three types come from De Havilland Canada. On wheels you see the Cessna Grand Caravan from the manufacturer Textron Aviation, for example on the connection between the Vancouver and Victoria airports.

The eBeaver: electric flight in the scheduled network

On December 10, 2019, Harbour Air wrote aviation history. At the water aerodrome on the south side of Vancouver Airport, a Beaver more than 60 years old took off, its radial engine swapped for an electric motor from the US company magniX. Founder Greg McDougall was at the controls, and the flight lasted about four minutes.

The test aircraft carries the registration C-FJOS. In August 2022, it flew point to point for the first time: from the terminal at YVR to Patricia Bay near Victoria Airport, about 45 miles in 24 minutes. In July 2024, Harbour Air showed the eBeaver to an international audience at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh.

The path to certification turned out to be longer than expected. Originally, Harbour Air hoped for passenger flights in the early 2020s. In 2023 it became clear that the authorities require separate safety evidence for electric propulsion. Harbour Air therefore switched to the more powerful magni650 motor and planned a second prototype. According to the trade press, the airline is now aiming for certification of the conversion by Transport Canada around 2027. The open issue in 2025 was mainly cooling the batteries between two flights.

For you as a spotter, C-FJOS is a one-off with rarity value. Because it does not fly to a schedule, you need patience and luck. The best way to watch the registration is through an alert: with Planetrack you set up a sighting alert for a registration and get notified on approach or landing. How such alerts work with trackers is also explained in the guide Setting up notifications.

Routes and destinations

Harbour Air lists 13 destinations, some only seasonal. The heart of the network is the Vancouver area with two water aerodromes: Coal Harbour downtown and the terminal on the south side of YVR Airport on the Fraser River.

• Vancouver Island: Victoria Inner Harbour, Nanaimo, Comox, Campbell River (new since July 2026), Ucluelet (new since June 2026) and Tofino
• Gulf Islands: Salt Spring Island with the harbor at Ganges
• Sunshine Coast: Sechelt and Powell River
• Whistler: Green Lake, seasonal according to reference sources
• USA: Seattle with Lake Union

The connection to Seattle has run seasonally since 2018; Kenmore Air is also at home on Lake Union. In 2026 it returned on April 13 with two daily flights from Coal Harbour, and on June 11 a daily connection from Victoria to Lake Union was added for the first time. In addition, Harbour Air flies landplanes between the Vancouver and Victoria airports and to Tofino-Long Beach.

How to recognize Harbour Air

In Vancouver it is usually simple: a seaplane in Coal Harbour most likely belongs to Harbour Air. It is not completely certain, though. Smaller operators such as Seair Seaplanes also dock at the Vancouver Harbour Flight Centre, and in summer Kenmore Air from Seattle joins them. So look for the “Harbour Air” titles on the fuselage and the Canadian registration.

For the type, size helps. The Beaver is compact, the Otter significantly longer, and the Twin Otter is the only one with two engines. It only gets tricky with turbine-converted Beavers, which some other operators fly – the long nose then resembles an Otter, but the short fuselage does not. More on telling propeller aircraft apart comes from the guide Telling turboprops apart, and for classic types it is worth looking at Recognizing vintage aircraft in the sky.

Spotting Harbour Air in Vancouver and Victoria

Vancouver Coal Harbour is one of the most beautiful city spots in North America. The seaplanes take off and land in Burrard Inlet west of Canada Place, with the North Shore Mountains and Stanley Park in the background. From the public waterfront path at Coal Harbour and the grounds around Canada Place, you have a clear view of the water. The docking zone itself is off limits. An eye-catcher nearby: the Vancouver Harbour Control Tower sits on a high-rise and is considered the tallest control tower in the world.

The takeoff direction depends on the wind. How to assess wind and conditions in advance is shown in the article on Windy and weather maps. In Planetrack you see weather, wind and runways at the airport and use the sun position planner to plan when the light hits the water.

In Victoria, the seaplanes land in the Inner Harbour directly in front of the Parliament Buildings and the Empress Hotel. The waterfront promenade is public, the harbor basin is narrow – you get very close to the aircraft. According to reference sources, the water aerodrome counted almost 200,000 passengers as early as 2015.

If you also want classic airliners, head to Vancouver Airport. There you will find not only the Harbour Air terminal on the Fraser River but also the Larry Berg Flight Path Park, a popular spot for the jets of Air Canada and WestJet.

Photo tips for seaplanes

Seaplanes are rewarding but distinctive subjects. On takeoff, the floats pull a spray trail that you freeze with a fast shutter speed. The propeller, on the other hand, you do not want to freeze completely, or the aircraft looks parked. The middle ground between the two is a matter of practice; the basics are explained in the article Photographing propellers.

At the dock, in turn, details pay off: floats, ladders, ropes and the registration on the fuselage tell more than a picture from far away. Post your sighting in Planetrack with photo, type, registration, airline and spot – that way you can later see which Beavers and Otters you have already got.

Common mix-ups

• Taking every seaplane in Vancouver for Harbour Air – other operators fly at Coal Harbour too.
• Confusing Harbour Air with Kenmore Air – both fly Beavers and Otters, but Kenmore Air comes from Seattle and carries US registrations starting with N.
• Expecting the eBeaver in scheduled service – C-FJOS is a test aircraft without passengers.
• Taking the Twin Otter for a bigger Otter – the Twin Otter has two engines under the wings, the Otter only one in the nose.
• Equating carbon neutral with zero emission – the carbon neutrality since 2007 is based on emissions offsetting.

Conclusion

Harbour Air connects two worlds: a fleet of Canadian bush planes, some more than 60 years old, and one of the best-known electric flight projects in the world. For spotters, the airline is a stroke of luck because it flies in the middle of the city – in front of mountains, skyline and water. If you log type, registration and spot cleanly, you will quickly have a special collection. And if you want to explore Canada further, you will find the next propeller subjects at Porter Airlines or Jazz Aviation.