Air Canada is leaving yet another airport in the Maritimes as it’s preparing to cut all flights to Fredericton.
The airline told Global News in an email the decision was made because of low demand for flights, travel restrictions and quarantine requirements brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.
“Our overall network capacity is currently down about 80 per cent from the last normal year in 2019,” said spokesperson Pascale Déry.
A part of the cancellations will also be daily flights to Montreal, now cut until further notice.
“This decision was not taken lightly and we regret the impact on our customers and communities, but it is increasingly difficult to continue to operate in this challenging environment,” Déry said.
The suspension of services begins in less than two weeks, on Jan. 23.
Air Canada announced last month that it would cancel all flights to and from Sydney, N.S., and Saint John, N.B., and reduce service to Deer Lake, N.L., Charlottetown and Halifax during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last commercial flights from Sydney and Saint John departed on Monday.
For those affected by the travel cuts, they say the worst thing about the situation for the Saint John Airport and the J.A. Douglas McCurdy Sydney Airport is that no one knows if or when flights will be coming back.
Krista Ross with the Fredericton Chamber of Commerce told Global News she is disappointed.
However, she said she is optimistic service will be resumed in April, or when the region is further along in its rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Déry said in the email Air Canada will continue to adjust its route network, “in response to the trajectory of the pandemic and travel restrictions.”
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