Lynx Air’s first flight from Edmonton International Airport takes off

Lynx Air’s inaugural flight from the Edmonton International Airport (EIA) took to the skies Thursday morning.

Lynx is Canada’s newest, privately-owned airline.

“I had formed a real strong connection with Edmonton and the Edmonton community. They told me the story about what the opportunity here is and we decided it was definitely worth investing here,” said Lynx Air President and CEO Merren McArthur.

The Thursday flight to Toronto was 92 per cent full, according to Lynx.

Right now, the airline offers five flights a week to that city and on to St. John’s, Nfld.

After July 20, the carrier will have daily flights to Toronto and will be adding Halifax to the Edmonton network.

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“Any time you have air service additions to the region, it’s positive for inviting tourism, it’s positive for business — great for the community as a whole,” EIA air service and business development vice president Myron Keehn said.

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McArthur said the reception has been strong.

“The feedback we are getting is airfares have been too high in Canada for far too long,” she said.

“People are really welcoming the competition and our ultra-affordable fares.”

The airline will now be up against Swoop and Flair — two other low cost carriers — and this could keep prices competitive.

“Within the Edmonton region, there are a lot of leisure travelers and they are looking for choice,” said Larry Leung a travel expert and customer experience strategist with Transformidy.

“With another airline in place, there may be a little competition between all three of them to ensure that both customer experience and prices would be perfect.”

Leung said competing on price alone could be problematic.

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“I think it’s important that they build relationships with the community so that the community actually knows who they are. Sometimes it’s not just about pricing,” Leung explained.

Lynx is banking on longevity as it plans to grow its fleet of Boeing 737 planes to more than 46 in the next five to seven years.

With the addition of Edmonton to the network, the airline now offers flights to ten Canadian destinations.