For those looking to head on out of the Queen City for a vacation this summer, you might be in luck as more flight options are coming to YQR.
For the first time at the Regina International Airport, travellers will soon be able to travel directly to Montreal and back via Air Canada.
Regina International Airport CEO James Bogusz said operations at the airport are now close to pre-pandemic levels, with the airport seeing almost a million passengers over the past year.
“This summer for the first time (in five years) we are going to have more capacity through the Regina airport than we had in 2019,” Bogusz said. “That means in July and August we are going to have more flights to Toronto, Calgary and certainly more flights to Vancouver than we had in that same period.”
The airport was off to a rough start in early 2023 after Air Canada discontinued flights to Calgary and Sunwing cancelled its entire winter sun destination flights.
“You must keep in mind that there were thousands of thousands of seats that came out of our market in a very short period,” Bogusz said.
“And then the reduction of Air Canada starting at only 63 per cent of pre-pandemic passenger volumes, but then ending at 103 per cent volumes in December of 2023. I’m very pleased with what I’m seeing and we’re progressing in the right way. I just want to see it continue.”
Bogusz believes things will continue to pick up with the return of daily, non-stop flights to Minneapolis.
For Regina travellers, the increase in direct flight options is only a good thing.
“A direct flight to Toronto will be great and it will allow us a little bit more access to other summer destinations,” Russ Kinnee said.
“I always look for a flight that is more convenient without any stops because the only problem, I feel, is that there are too many stops that we go through (when traveling from Regina,),” resident Munish Bhardwaj said.
In terms of ticket prices, it is something passengers hope are on the way down. However, Bogusz said the airport doesn’t have much control over prices.
“We understand that sometimes travel can be frustrating, but unfortunately higher cost to the airlines means higher ticket prices,” he said.
Bogusz said with the increase of events in Regina after the pandemic, the airport will only get bigger — something he is beyond excited about.
“We love this community. We’re passionate about this airport. We’re committed to helping this economy grow and we’re not going to stop.”