EDMONTON – Just over a year after launching direct service between Edmonton and New York City, United is pulling the plug on it.
The non-stop flight to the Newark Liberty International Airport, located 30 kilometres from Manhattan, will be discontinued as of October 25, 2014.
“The flights aren’t meeting our expectations,” said airline spokesperson Mary Ryan on Friday.
“We will contact customers currently booked to travel between Newark and Edmonton and offer to either re-accommodate them on other flights or offer them refunds.”
READ MORE: Air Canada says move to suspend EIA’s direct flight to London was purely ‘a business decision’
Before the addition of the direct flight in May 2013, New York was said to be the number one requested destination at the Edmonton International Airport.
New York City also placed first on a newly-released list of the most popular international cities for Canadian travellers.
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Ryan added that United will continue to offer nonstop flights between Edmonton and Chicago, Denver, Houston and San Francisco.
EIA officials say despite the cancellation of the direct flight to New York, they’re seeing strong growth.
“I think in the big picture we’re still strong, we’re still growing,” said spokesperson Heather Hamilton. “Still a strong presence from United — they’ve been such a great partner for such a long time but not, unfortunately, for this particular flight.”
From now until Labour Day, EIA expects to see passenger levels similar to those around Christmas time. Anyone flying out of the airport is encouraged to get there earlier to avoid lineups.
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