Monday May 4, 2020 ~ VANCOUVER/VICTORIA
by Mary Brooke~ West Shore Voice News
Free flights for health care responders goes into a second month, in an offer by Helijet. Since their initial announcement on April 1, they have been on board to provide seats at no cost between its Vancouver and Vancouver Island terminals in Victoria and Nanaimo for health care responders travelling on business.
This is in recognizing the important work of British Columbia’s health care responders during the current COVID-19 crisis.
The initiative is aimed at medical personnel including doctors, nurses or others in the health care sector who may need to travel quickly to provide direct patient care, or to attend urgent medical strategy sessions or briefings on the outbreak.
“We’ve been providing downtown-to-downtown scheduled air service for 34 years and we know that right now, every minute counts,” explained Danny Sitnam, President and CEO of Helijet International.
Contribution to community:
“We’re proud to help out during the COVID-19 crisis by supporting free flights for British Columbia’s health care responders who may need to travel to and from Vancouver Island. Their efforts are unprecedented right now and we’re proud to help where we can,” said Sitnam last month.
Since April 6, Helijet has provided free seats to doctors, nurses or others in the health care sector who have needed to travel quickly to provide direct patient care, or to attend urgent medical strategy sessions or briefings on the COVID-19 outbreak.
“During our first four weeks, we’ve flown 140 health professionals. Based on that amount of interest, we’ve decided to extend the program until further notice,” says Danny Sitnam, President and CEO of Richmond, BC-based Helijet International. “We want to do our part to help health care responders travel quickly between the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island when they need to during this ongoing pandemic.”
Essential service provider:
Helijet is now designated as an “essential service” air provider and is currently the only air carrier operating regularly scheduled “downtown-to-downtown” passenger and cargo flights between the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island. The service is operating on a reduced schedule based on current demand, with daily return flights between Vancouver Harbour and Victoria Harbour, as well as Vancouver Harbour and Nanaimo Harbour.
BC health care responders travelling on business can book seats free of charge on any of these flights, based on availability. Proper identification to verify health care responders is required at time of check-in.
This first responder program began April 6. At the time it was said the program would continue for at least 30 days, subject to review and possible extension.
Enhanced cleaning and application of physical distancing:
During the COVID-19 crisis, Helijet has increased its sanitizing and social distancing procedures to include:
• Limiting the maximum number of passengers in all aircraft to six, instead of the usual 12, to increase the distance between travellers.
• Sanitizing aircraft cabins before each flight, as well as disinfecting high touch areas within the cabin and cockpit.
• Providing a detailed disinfection regime for all aircraft at the end of every day, to ensure no contaminants remain for passengers who board the aircraft next.
• Making hand sanitizer available to all travellers and staff at each terminal.
• Deeper cleaning of terminal facilities, washrooms and offices on a more frequent basis.
• Complimentary food and beverage service at terminals has changed to offer only grab-and-go pre-packaged foods and beverages.
About Helijet:
Helijet International is a Canadian-owned company and the world’s largest scheduled helicopter airline, carrying over 2.4 million passengers in the past 34 years.
In addition to its scheduled helicopter services, Helijet also provides dedicated medically equipped helicopters to the BC Air Ambulance Service, which is operated by the province’s BC Emergency Health Services.
Additionally, Helijet provides helicopters and business turbojet services to BC’s world-renowned fishing resorts, and public service and energy companies throughout the West Coast of British Columbia and Pacific North West. Additional Helijet details are available at Helijet.com.
