In light of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s announcement on Wednesday, travellers looking to Harbour Air as an option to safely travel from Victoria and Seattle will have to look for other options. Trudeau announced that the Canadian and United States government will be restricting non-essential travel between the Canadian and United States border in an attempt to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

According to an e-mail statement from Harbour Air, the company cancelled all Seattle flights until April 30. The company will continue to schedule flights domestically.

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The company has implemented additional vigorous cleaning procedures and precautions for both terminals and aircraft in an attempt to reduce the chance of the virus spreading. Cleaning procedures occur before and after each flight and throughout the day. All flights have also been temporarily reduced to single-aisle seating to ensure that passengers are afforded an additional level of space while flying.

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On March 5 the company alerted its customers that, “although the Public Health Agency of Canada has assessed the risk of the COVID-19 virus as low,” the company will take precaution seriously. Harbour Air advised its customers that in cases where the seaplane company has grounds to believe that someone is unfit to travel, the company will exercise the authority to deny a customer boarding for their own well-being, and that of other customers and employees.

Harbour Air will continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation and inform customers of any procedural changes.

sarah.schuchard@saanichnews.com

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