It’s been a turbulent takeoff for Flair Airlines at the YQL airport.
A Flair route between Lethbridge and Tuscon was cancelled Wednesday. Jason Elliott, director of corporate, customer and commercial services for the City of Lethbridge, said the decision was unavoidable.
“Due to unfortunate supply chain issues, we’ve made the decision collectively to cancel the upcoming Flair Airlines flight, the long-awaited and much-anticipated flight from Lethbridge to Tucson,” said Elliott.
The issue is a passenger loading ramp big enough to board the Boeing 737 aircraft.
“There is a limited supply of those available and although the airport and industry partners have been scouring Canada to source this equipment, it is in very short supply and was not able to be in place in Lethbridge in time for launch of the service,” said Garth Lund, Flair’s chief commercial officer.
Flair Airlines was set for its first departure from YQL on Dec. 1. Lund said the cancellation is likely impacting hundreds of travellers but the decision had to be made now.
“As per APPR regulations, we need to give customers at least two weeks notice of any cancellations, so this was really the go- or no-go point to make that decision.”
The city added this latest snag in air travel for southern Albertans doesn’t impact the viability of the newly renovated Lethbridge airport.
“As disappointing as it is in the short-term, we see this as a long-term investment that is only going to provide growth opportunities for our airport and for our city and region,” said Elliott.
Flair has offered a full refund to impacted travellers. Lund said the airline is committed to providing the service between Tucson and Lethbridge and is already preparing to relaunch in December 2023.
“Our flights for next year will be going on sale in the new year, probably February or March, so it will be available for next winter at that point.”