SURREY — Surrey may not have its own international airport but it soon will have a dedicated bus service that can take you to one.
Abbotsford International Airport (YXX), that is.
Travellers will as of Monday, Nov. 14 be able to enjoy a dedicated non-stop bus service between Surrey Central SkyTrain Station and the airport through NewLeaf Travel Company Inc., a discount travel operator offering domestic flights out of Abbotsford through B.C.-based Flair Airlines.
Jim Young, President of NewLeaf, laid out the plan at a press conference Wednesday at the Surrey Board of Trade office in Guildford.
“Why are we at a place where there is no airport?” he asked. “Well, we want to make it as easy as possible for people to get from here to there, with a very low fare, and so today we’re pleased to announce an innovative way to connect people in Surrey and Metro Vancouver to Halifax, Hamilton, Winnipeg and Edmonton, and soon to Calgary.”
A 47-passenger coach bus, operated by Wilson Transport Company, will pick travellers up and drop them off at the bus stop at 102nd Avenue and University Drive, outside Simon Fraser University, and transport them non-stop trip along Highway 1.
“Customers may book their tickets as part of the airfare, that’s the innovative part,” Young said. “You can actually select Surrey to Hamilton in your travel purchase and the bus trip is included in the fare that you pay along with the air transportation.”
Surrey Mayor Linda Hepner praised this new “seamless” transportation service. “We don’t have to park at the airport, we can just grab the bus.
“This is a very innovative solution for making travel easy for the over half a million people that live in Surrey, and those that are in Metro Vancouver,” Hepner said. “I would call this, today, ‘turning a new leaf’ in the transportation opportunities in our city.”
Abbotsford Mayor Henry Braun called it a “great opportunity for Surrey.”
Young said NewLeaf — a privately held Canadian company based in Winnipeg — offers 11 flights a week out of Abbotford. The schedule is published on gonewleaf.ca
Flair Airlines Ltd. is also a Canadian airline, with operations based in Kelowna, Calgary and Hamilton, and has been flying since 2003.
tom.zytaruk@thenownewspaper.com
