Angel Flight East Kootenay is embarking on a campaign to raise funds for a new $3 million aircraft that will help streamline operating costs for its flight services between the East Kootenay and Kelowna.
Co-founder Brent Bidston provided an update to the Kootenay East Regional Hospital District board during a meeting on Sept. 12, noting that the organization is starting to seek out industry and government funding sources for a new aircraft that would help cut down maintenance and operating costs.
The main aircraft operated by Angel Flight is an older model Cessna 414A aircraft, which is pressurized and can operate in inclement weather conditions while carrying five passengers each way during flights to Kelowna. The aircraft engine needed replacing this year, which cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
“Our problems are that these spares are becoming harder to find, more expensive all the time, and being a relatively older airplane, there’s a lot of maintenance,” Bidston told the board. “We spent a lot of in the last few years on maintenance.”
Bidston says he is looking at acquiring a newer $3 million single engine turbo prop aircraft that would seat roughly six people.
“It is a very large capital investment but it would actually bring our running costs down,” he said.
Bidston recently sent a letter to the province requesting capital funding support for the new aircraft, and the hospital board also voted to follow up with a letter of support for Angel Flight’s request.
Since the organization was founded in 2019, Angel Flight East Kootenay has transported roughly 3,100 patients to and from Kelowna.
Last year, the organization helped just under 1,000 patients, and this year is tracking to be slightly less due to scheduled aircraft maintenance that impacted flight operations. Angel Flight also had 15 occurrences last year where the aircraft made two round trips to Kelowna in a single day.
The organization currently has eight volunteer pilots, most of whom are commercial airline pilots who fly with Angel Flight when they aren’t working.
For more information on Angel Flight, to book their services, or make a donation, visit www.angelflightek.ca
Article originally published in the Castlegar News, September 25, 2025, https://castlegarnews.com/2025/09/25/angel-flight-seeks-funding-for-new-aircraft/