Waterloo International Airport was Canada’s busiest last November and it appears set to get even more hectic.
On Wednesday morning, the region announced a new deal with Flair Airlines, which it says will see multiple flights each week to Victoria, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Halifax.
“Once pandemic restrictions are lifted, the addition of Flair’s services will provide further connectivity to other economic hubs, create local jobs, build partnerships and help support the recovery of the local economy,” Regional Chair Karen Redman said in a statement.
The Edmonton-based discount carrier is expected to begin flying out of Waterloo on May 1.
“With the expected recovery from the pandemic this summer, Flair and YKF will be there with low fares to give more Canadians the opportunity to travel to visit friends and family and to see more of this beautiful country,” Stephen Jones, Flair’s president and CEO, stated.
The airline was launched in 2017 and as of December, the region says it has flown almost 18,000 flights with approximately 2.3 million passengers.
Flair Airlines says it will begin flying in and out of Waterloo Region, Ottawa, Halifax and Saint John on May 1. In June the list expands to include Thunder Bay and Charlottetown, Victoria will come in July with Abbotsford in August.
The company recently announced plans to add 13 new Boeing 737 Max aircraft to its fleet, a plane which had been grounded for two years.
Each plane will be able to carry 189 passengers and travel a maximum of 6,570 km for each trip, Flair said.
The Max was grounded in Canadian airspace for nearly two years beginning in March 2019, after two deadly crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia.
Flair is not alone with plans to fly out of Waterloo once the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions ease.
Last fall, Pivot Airlines announced it would fly from Waterloo to Ottawa, Toronto, Windsor and Montreal, although it has yet to provide a timeline for those plans to take shape.
Brock Henderson, Pivot’s vice president of operations control, told Global News at the time that “tickets are anticipated to cost between $90 and about $250 plus taxes and fees.”
He described Pivot Airlines as “a new company which draws from a legacy of 25 years as a partner carrier for two different Canadian major airlines.”
There is no word yet on what the pricing strategy will be for Flair.