Metis TransPacific Charter Airlines was a supposed airline service based in Macau SAR, China. It was to provide commercial airservice between Macau SAR China and Vancouver BC, Canada. The air service never did launch, claiming lack of available aircraft with the ability to fulfill the transpacific flights on a non-stop filght path, in the market at startup (2006/2007).

Metis TransPacific Charter Airlines, without success, did attempt three separate launch dates between June 2006 and December 2007. Metis TransPacific Charter Airlines was given approvals from both Macau SAR, China civil aviation and Canadian civil aviation authorities.

As advertised by the company

Founded by Christopher Colbourne, this entity started to solicit passengers on April 8, 2007 ; its last official launch date was December 14, 2007. The airline stated on the website that "\"THE GRINCH

The Grinch

The Grinch is a fictional character created by Dr. Seuss. He first appeared as the main protagonist in the 1957 children's book, How the Grinch Stole Christmas!...

\" stole Christmas

Christmas

Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...

" and the supposed launch date has been postponed until January 24, 2008. According to its website, the first flight was to Vancouver

Vancouver

Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...

 from Macau

Macau

Macau , also spelled Macao , is, along with Hong Kong, one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China...

, making it the first airline, charter or frontline carrier, to offer flights from Macau to Vancouver BC Canada, original launch special was at a cost of 1,500 Hong Kong dollar

Hong Kong dollar

The Hong Kong dollar is the currency of the jurisdiction. It is the eighth most traded currency in the world. In English, it is normally abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or alternatively HK$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies...

s per seat.

Primaris Airlines had offered to operate on behalf of "Métis TransPacific Airlines."

As of February 21, 2008, the website was blank except for a notice that the page is "under construction." As of December 2010, the website was completely offline.

Company Existence Questioned

Due to the unusually low claim price of the tickets, and the fact that the websites of Macau International Airport

Macau International Airport

- Cargo airlines :The following cargo airlines serve Macau International Airport :*Air Macau*EVA Air Cargo*Shanghai Airlines Cargo*Singapore Airlines Cargo- Other Tenants :* Macau Customs Service...

 and Vancouver International Airport

Vancouver International Airport

Vancouver International Airport is located on Sea Island in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada, about from Downtown Vancouver. In 2010 it was the second busiest airport in Canada by aircraft movements and passengers , behind Toronto Pearson International Airport, with non-stop flights daily to...

 carried no mentioned of such an airline, even as a charter airline, it had raised many doubts which were all dismissed when none of the 1532 paid passengers registered any complaints after a full year. Skytrax

Skytrax

Skytrax is a United Kingdom-based consultancy, the public face of Inflight Research Services, which has the largest airline and airport review and ranking site. It conducts research for commercial airlines...

 had issued an article with its CEO Eduard Plaisted claiming it was a spoof operation . This article was retracted and erased from its website.

The photo on Metis TransPacific's website was photoshopped from a photo posted to the Airliners.net

Airliners.net

Airliners.net is an aviation website founded by Johan Lundgren, Sweden, in 1997, evolving from his previous Pictures of Modern Airliners site started in 1994...

 website, with a reworked version of the logo of Bali Air

Bali Air

Bali Air was an airline based in Jakarta, Indonesia. Currently, it has ceased operations.The Transportation Ministry in February 2007 delayed license revocation of 11 idle airlines, including Bali Air, to give restructuring opportunities to the operators...

An article in the Macau Daily Times expressed concerns that the airline had repeatedly postponed its first flight, that the company owner was not contactable, and that the civil aviation authority had passed the case to the Judiciary Police.

External links

• http://www.airlinequality.com/news/011107_Metis.htm
• http://www.destination-macau.com/2007/11/metis_we_messed_up.html
• http://www.destination-macau.com/2007/11/metis_gets_its_jets.html