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Aviation Memorabilia Newsletter Since 1995

Aviation Memorabilia Newsletter

Since 1995

wayne albertson articlesAirtransit - A little piece of history

It seems to be quite unusual, with the amazing access to information we have today, that information on any subject could be hard to find. However, I found myself in this situation while preparing the content provided by Terry for this edition of the NetLetter.

One of the images Terry sent is the cover of a timetable (from the collection of David Zekria) of a little-known airline named “Airtransit” that operated as a subsidiary of Air Canada during the early 1970’s. I even managed to stump a Google search as it only asked me if I was looking for “Air Transat”.

Airtransit was incorporated on June 19, 1973 to provide this service and operated six de Havilland DHC-6-300. The airline does not appear as one of the many legacy airlines in Air Canada’s history and rzjetz.net lists all six aircraft as being registered to Transport Canada.  tmb 1974 airtransit 1383

I did find a Wikipedia page on the Victoria STOLport (Short Takeoff and Landing) aerodrome built on the former Expo ’67 site in Montreal. A demonstration service flying between downtown Montreal and Rockcliffe Airport in Ottawa for a two-year period. While proof reading this issue, Ken Pickford noticed that there is a link on the bottom of the Wikipedia page to a Flight International article from November 28, 1974.

Ken also added his personal memory with this airline:

"I flew on Airtransit once from Montreal to Ottawa just for fun (one way only). As I was with CP then, can't remember whether we got reduced rates or whether I paid full fare. Probably the latter."

Apparently, the demonstration was not successful and was discontinued. Below are links to the limited amount of information that I have been able to find. Hopefully, we will hear from some more of our readers who may have personal experience with this time in history.

Wikipedia - Victoria STOLport

Flight International article

rzjetz.net - Airtransit fleet

SAE InternationalSAE International - Archived article announcing the service.

Airtransit timetable interior  

tmb stol timetable 02   tmb stol timetale 01

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