Kelowna Flightcraft Air Charter trading as KF Cargo and Kelowna Flightcraft trading as KF Maintenance and Engineering is a

cargo airline Cargo airlines (or air freight carriers, and derivatives of these names) are airlines mainly dedicated to the transport of air cargo, cargo by air. Some cargo airlines are divisions or subsidiaries of larger passenger airlines. In 2018, airline ...

based in Kelowna,

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, Canada. It operates long term cargo charters for couriers and freight companies, forest fire patrols, and aircraft sales and leasing in Canada and worldwide. It also provides maintenance and aircraft manufacturing services.

History

KF Cargo is a subsidiary company of KF Aerospace, which was established as Kelowna Flightcraft on March 20, 1970 and the cargo subsidiary was established and started operating in June 1974. It is wholly owned by Barry Lapointe Holding.

Destinations

KF Cargo operates air cargo services to the following destinations: * John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport Hub *

Kamloops Airport Kamloops Airport , also known as Fulton Field or John "Moose" Fulton Airfield, is a regional airport located west northwest of Kamloops, British Columbia, a city in the Thompson region of Canada. It is owned by the Kamloops Airport Authority ...

Kelowna International Airport Kelowna International Airport is a Canadian airport located approximately 10 minutes or northeast of Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada, on Highway 97. The single runway airport operates scheduled air service to Vancouver, Victoria, Calgary, E ...

Hub *

Prince George Airport Prince George Airport (abbreviated in initials as PGA) is an airport that serves Prince George, British Columbia, Canada, and the surrounding area. It is located just within the southern boundary of the city, southeast, and is run by the Princ ...

Vancouver International Airport Vancouver International Airport is an international airport located on Sea Island in Richmond, British Columbia, serving the city of Vancouver and the Lower Mainland region. It is located from Downtown Vancouver. It is the second busie ...

Hub *

Victoria International Airport Victoria International Airport serves Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. It is north northwest of Victoria on the Saanich Peninsula, with the bulk of the airport (including the passenger terminal) in North Saanich, and a small portion of the ...

Fleet

Current fleet

As of September 2019, KF Cargo/KF Maintenance and Engineering has the following aircraft registered with

Transport Canada Transport Canada (french: Transports Canada) is the department within the Government of Canada responsible for developing regulations, policies and services of road, rail, marine and air transportation in Canada. It is part of the Transporta ...

Leasing

KF Cargo leases out

Convair 580 The Convair CV-240 is an American airliner that Convair manufactured from 1947 to 1954, initially as a possible replacement for the ubiquitous Douglas DC-3. Featuring a more modern design with cabin pressurization, the 240 series made some inroa ...

/ 5800s. KF Cargo's leasing operations has the distinction of developing the world's first

Boeing 737-300QC The Boeing 737 Classic is a series of narrow-body airliners produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, the second generation of the Boeing 737 series of aircraft. Development began in 1979 and the first variant, the 737-300, first flew in Februa ...

. The company has leased aircraft to several

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

passenger airlines including Harmony Airways, Greyhound Air, Roots Air in the past and also in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

to IFL Group Inc. Currently, KF Cargo leases its

Canadian North Bradley Air Services, operating as Canadian North, is a wholly Inuit-owned airline headquartered in Kanata, Ontario, Canada. It operates scheduled passenger services to communities in the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and the Nunavik region ...

Historical fleet

The airline previously operated a diverse range of aircraft including: *

Aero Commander Aero Commander was an aircraft manufacturer formed in 1944. In subsequent years, it became a subsidiary of Rockwell International and Gulfstream Aerospace. The company ceased aircraft production in 1986. History Aero was formed in Culver City, ...

Beechcraft Beechcraft is an American brand of civil aviation and military aircraft owned by Textron Aviation since 2014, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Originally, it was a brand of Beech Aircraft Corporation, an American manufacturer of general avi ...

aircraft * Bell 206 * Boeing 727-100F *

Boeing 727-200F The Boeing 727 is an American narrow-body airliner that was developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After the heavy 707 quad-jet was introduced in 1958, Boeing addressed the demand for shorter flight lengths from smaller airpo ...

Boeing 737-200 The Boeing 737 is a narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Renton Factory in Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retains the 707 fuselage width and six abreast seating with two u ...

Boeing 737-300 The Boeing 737 Classic is a series of narrow-body airliners produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, the second generation of the Boeing 737 series of aircraft. Development began in 1979 and the first variant, the 737-300, first flew in Februa ...

* Boeing 737-400SF *

Boeing 737-800 The Boeing 737 Next Generation, commonly abbreviated as 737NG, or 737 Next Gen, is a narrow-body aircraft powered by two jet engines and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Launched in 1993 as the third generation derivative of the Boein ...

* Boeing 757-200 * Cessna aircraft * Convair CV-340 * Convair CV-440 *

Convair CV-580 Convair, previously Consolidated Vultee, was an American aircraft manufacturing company that later expanded into rockets and spacecraft. The company was formed in 1943 by the merger of Consolidated Aircraft and Vultee Aircraft. In 1953, i ...

* de Havilland Canada DHC-4 Caribou * Douglas DC-3 * McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30F *

Fairchild F27 The Fairchild F-27 and Fairchild Hiller FH-227 were versions of the Fokker F27 Friendship twin-engined turboprop passenger aircraft manufactured under license by Fairchild Hiller in the United States. The Fairchild F-27 was similar to the stand ...

Grumman Gulfstream I The Grumman Gulfstream I (company designation G-159) is a twin-turboprop business aircraft. It first flew on August 14, 1958. Design and development After first rejecting an idea to develop the Grumman Widgeon as an executive transport, the comp ...

* Helio Courier * Howard 500 * Israel 1124 * Israel 1125 *

Mitsubishi MU-2 The Mitsubishi MU-2 is a Japanese high-wing, twin-engine turboprop aircraft with a pressurized cabin manufactured by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. It made its maiden flight in September 1963 and was produced until 1986. It is one of postwar Japa ...

* Piper Aircraft *

Robinson R44 The Robinson R44 is a four-seat light helicopter produced by Robinson Helicopter Company since 1992. Based on the company's two-seat Robinson R22, the R44 features hydraulically assisted flight controls. It was first flown on 31 March 1990 a ...

* Taylorcraft DC65.

Accidents and incidents

*On January 13, 1999, a Douglas DC-3 (C-GWUG) crashed into Mount Parke,

Mayne Island Mayne Island is a island in the southern Gulf Islands chain of British Columbia. It is midway between the Lower Mainland of BC and Vancouver Island, and has a population of 995. Mount Parke in the south-central heart of the island is its highe ...

while on a domestic cargo flight from

. The aircraft was destroyed and both pilots, the only occupants, were killed. Investigation revealed that the flight was being operated under

visual flight rules In aviation, visual flight rules (VFR) are a set of regulations under which a pilot operates an aircraft in weather conditions generally clear enough to allow the pilot to see where the aircraft is going. Specifically, the weather must be better ...

at night, in contravention of Canadian Aviation Regulations. *On July 9, 1981, a Howard 500 (C-GKFN), operated by Kelowna Flightcraft for overnight freight operations, crashed shortly after takeoff from Toronto International Airport. Fatalities: 3 crew. *On September 7, 1976, a

Douglas C-47 The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota (Royal Air Force, RAF, Royal Australian Air Force, RAAF, Royal Canadian Air Force, RCAF, Royal New Zealand Air Force, RNZAF, and South African Air Force, SAAF designation) is a airlift, military transport ai ...

(C-GKFC) was destroyed by fire after an emergency landing near Brocket, Alberta. All 26 people on board escaped. The aircraft was on a domestic non-scheduled passenger flight from

Vernon Regional Airport Vernon Regional Airport is a small, non-towered airport located southwest of Vernon, British Columbia, Canada. It is one of the few airports in the Okanagan Valley that can offer skydiving because all commercial operators must give written con ...

Lethbridge Airport Lethbridge Airport , previously Lethbridge County Airport, is located south southeast of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada. It is 10–15 driving minutes from downtown and has scheduled service to the city of Calgary, Alberta. The airport is classifi ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

Bases

Pilot bases include

, John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport, and

. Primary maintenance bases include John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport and Kelowna International Airport with a satellite base at Vancouver International Airport.

References

External links

KF CargoKF Maintenance and Engineering
{{Airlines of Canada Air Transport Association of Canada Cargo airlines of Canada Charter airlines of Canada Airlines established in 1970 Companies based in Kelowna 1970 establishments in British Columbia Canadian companies established in 1970