PORT ALBERNI – Alberni Valley based Coulson Group will soon add one more element to the range of aviation services it currently offers, in the form of an air ambulance / jet charter service. The charter business will be based around a pair of Canadair Challenger long range business jets. “There’s two parts to the business. The first will be air ambulance for long range transport. Challenger Number One is being converted into a 100 percent air medical aircraft,” explained the Coulson Groups’ CEO Wayne Coulson September 11.
“The trick to these aircraft of course is it’s a 3,200 nautical mile range airplane. We’re working with a company in Parksville that is already in the air medical business and they need additional lift. Primarily the market at this time of year will be flights to Hawaii. There seems to be a business opportunity going out to the Hawaiian Islands and then back into BC or Alberta with patients.”
The second part of the new service will be a traditional charter business employing the second newly acquired Challenger jet. “The fact is we have the two Challengers, one is being converted into an air ambulance in the hanger with the other one already operational, but we’re just waiting for our approval from Transport Canada to operate it commercially. It will operate as part of Coulson Aviation which will now have a Charter Division,” he said.
The Coulson Group, an umbrella entity that involves a wide range of business ventures (from forestry to manufacturing to entertainment) including aviation in its portfolio, has a long and successful history in aircraft maintenance and modification. For Coulson the conversion of the business jet into an air ambulance was a straightforward task for his company.
“Based on the fact that we have an existing infrastructure in the hanger with some very talented employees, he said. “We’ve been in the helicopter business 29 years, we picked up the Martin Mars of course in ’07, we got into the C-130 business in 2012 so we’ve cross-trained a significant amount of the folks we have working for us. These older aircraft types require heavy, heavy maintenance. We have a significant infrastructure already in place, and we have some very talented guys, I would say some of the top in aviation.”
Coulson said his firm will ideally be bringing the new service online next month. “We’ll be doing a formal announcement in October with the company that we’re partnered with. That initial aircraft will be solely dedicated to air lift. We have two litter kits in it while all these other aircraft only have one so we’ll be able to move multiple people. We have one Captain now and crew and we’re looking for a second crew for the second aircraft. The second Challenger will be used in the charter market in BC,” he said.
“The Challenger is a great airplane, we love it. It’s relatively cost effective and it’s a Canadian product which is always great. We’re very excited.”
