The Kingston, Ont., airport is receiving $1.3 million from the federal government to give air tourism in the city a leg up in adapting to post-COVID travel.
This funding will go toward restoring air service between Kingston and Toronto, to strengthen the connection between the two cities.
“This includes supporting our operating costs, reinstating airport security, and increasing measures to meet new safety requirements to adapt the airport to a post-COVID environment,” says Mark Gerretsen, MP for Kingston and the Islands.
“This project will help bring back more than the 18,000 passengers to the Kingston airport.”
The city hopes that this investment will encourage travellers from Kingston to fly to a hub city like Toronto, and connect there with the rest of the country and the world.
The city says a one-way ticket from Kingston to Toronto will be about $90, keeping the price competitive with other forms of transportation, such as driving or taking the train.
“I think this really speaks to how important the airport is to Kingston,” says Mayor Bryan Paterson.
“For a growing city like ours, that’s going to be relevant on the national and international stage, it’s vital that we here in Kingston can get to the rest of the country and the rest of the world, and that the rest of the world can get to us.”
Restoring the service to Toronto will have passengers from Kingston flying into Billy Bishop Airport, not Pearson International Airport.
Also, starting Sept. 21, flights will be running from Kingston to Montreal via Pascan Aviation, a deal the city signed in December, with one-way flights costing about $160.
“Flying into Pearson airport is incredibly expensive,” says Craig Desjardins, Director of Strategy, Innovation and Partnerships with the city.
“When we did our analysis, what we found was it was significantly cheaper to fly into Montreal, and the destinations were 97 per cent the same. So providing high-quality service at a good price was really our prime objective.”
This funding announcement is part of the federal government’s Regional Air Transportation Initiative, and $2.8 million of that program is being funnelled into southeastern Ontario.
Kingston will receive their $1.3 million, the Cornwall Regional Airport will receive $1.1 million, $310,000 will be granted to the Huronia Airport, and the Arnprior Airport is receiving $47,500.
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