The City of Quesnel was as surprised as anyone to learn that Pacific Coastal Airlines is suspending its Quesnel-to-Vancouver service this June.
In a news release published on May 27, Pacific Coastal Airlines announced it will suspend its regular scheduled flight service between Vancouver International Airport’s South Terminal and Quesnel Airport within the next three weeks.
Pacific Coastal Airlines launched the non-stop route between Vancouver and Quesnel on Oct. 30, 2025, operating flights six days per week. The final day of operations for flights between Vancouver and Quesnel will be Friday, June 12, 2026.
In an interview for the Observer on Thursday, May 28, Mayor Ron Paull said the news of Pacific Coastal Airlines ending its flights between Vancouver and Quesnel came as a surprise.
“We found out about it sort of late in the day (May 27) and that’s why we didn’t have an immediate response,” he explained. “It was very surprising to us, and they didn’t really give us much warning.”
According to Paull, the company cited “poor passenger numbers” as one of the reasons behind their decision. Another issue that Paull noticed is that both airline companies that serve Quesnel, Pacific Coastal and Central Mountain Air, have a limited schedule.
“The flights are late in the day, and I know there’s demand for an earlier flight out of Quesnel, but whether or not that is possible, certainly connections are a problem,” he explained.
The mayor said that the city’s proximity to Prince George, which offers more flights throughout the day to Vancouver and other cities across Canada, could have also been a contributor for locals to not utilize the local service.
“If I’m flying out to eastern Canada or the U.S., I will admit that to save me a hotel and time in Vancouver, I’ll run up to Prince George and jump on the 6 a.m. flight out of (Prince George),” he said.
“When I do that, I look around the room, and I see others from Quesnel, so I think part of the problem is our proximity to Prince George.”
Despite Pacific Coastal ending its Vancouver – Quesnel flight operations, Paull said the city is still fortunate to be served by another airline.
“We’re extremely fortunate that we’ve still got Central Mountain Air,” he said. “We’ve got a meeting next week of the airport advisory committee, so we will be discussing (Pacific Coastal leaving) at the same time.”
The mayor said he hopes to see the company serving Quesnel sometime in the future.
“Pacific Coastal certainly knows that our door is always open and the welcome mat is always out for them to come back,” Paull said. “We’re hoping that, particularly when fuel prices stabilize, that maybe we’ll see them back again.”