Flair Airlines Adding Flights In Halifax, Saint John
HALIFAX — Flair Airlines is adding several flights to Atlantic Canada as part of an ambitious expansion of its Canadian services.
The company announced today it will add four new routes to its schedule on May 1. Those routes include flights to Halifax, Saint John, Ottawa, and Kitchener-Waterloo.
The company says it will also add more flights “in the coming months, as non-essential travel within Canada safely restarts.”
Those routes will include flights to Charlottetown, Victoria, Thunder Bay, and other destinations.
Right now, there is no commercial air access to the Saint John Airport. Air Canada indefinitely suspended its last flight at YSJ on January 11, while Porter Airlines and Sunwing suspended service last year.
Halifax’s Stanfield International Airport has maintained commercial service throughout the pandemic, but Flair’s route to Kitchener-Waterloo will be a new destination for Halifax.
Monette Pasher, the executive director of the Atlantic Canada Airport Association, says she is “excited” to see Atlantic Canadian cities added to Flair’s route map.
Pasher said Flair was planning to introduce service to the region before the Covid-19 pandemic and that “it’s great to see they are still committed to serve this market when it’s safe to do so.”
“When we move to recovery, having more air carriers serving more destinations in our region leads to more competition, which can result in better fares and choice for the travelling public. That is always encouraging news,” she added.
Flair bills itself as Canada’s only independent, ultra-low-cost carrier. Right now, it operates primarily in Western Canada, offering flights for as little as $49.
Stephen Jones, Flair’s president and CEO, says Flair’s low-cost model frees it from overhead and costs of more traditional airlines. That, he says, means Flair is “uniquely positioned” to take advantage of the return of air travel in 2021.
In an interview with Huddle, he said there is “tremendous” pent-up demand for travel, particularly in Canada, and that he believes domestic travel restrictions will be relaxed soon.
“You have to play into the future. And you have to play with an optimistic view that by the summer domestic travel restrictions will have eased significantly and that people will be traveling around Canada by air,” he said.
The airline industry has been gutted by the Covid-19 pandemic. Across the country, major airlines have slashed routes and laid off thousands of employees as passenger traffic evaporated— all while pleading for economic aid from the federal government.
Jones said he believes the federal government should help airlines out but said Flair’s expansion plans “aren’t predicated on government support.”
He said Flair’s position as an independent airline has allowed it to plan such an ambitious expansion at a time when the industry is suffering so profoundly.
“Our mindset, I think, is really important. And that is the ability to see market opportunities, like we are seeing here, and act on them swiftly,” he said. “You have to actually have the confidence, then a little bit of risk-taking and entrepreneurial spirit that an independent airline can have.”
“We all know that the best-laid plan can quickly come and die. But we’ve thought it through and on a risk-weighted basis we think this is an appropriate level of expansion.”
For Flair, that expansion will mean increasing its fleet to 11 aircraft by August. Right now, the airline has three aircraft in its fleet and only one of them is currently flying.
Trevor Nichols is a staff writer with Huddle in Halifax. Send him an e-mail with your story suggestions: [email protected].