For the first time since October, a Flair Airlines flight has departed from Saint John. The ultra-low-cost carrier returned to the Saint John airport on Tuesday as it revives its service in the Port City ahead of the summer travel season.
Lori Carle, the airport’s manager of marketing, public and corporate relations, noted Flair will once again provide residents with choices.
“To have alternatives, I mean we’re a small region and wanting to get to the larger centres to make connections, so to have options is always a good thing,” Carle told Global News on Tuesday.
Flair will now operate three trips each week between Saint John and Toronto until at least October.
In recent months, Air Canada has been the lone passenger airline on the apron. Carle noted they expect Air Canada to increase their activity this summer up to five daily flights, including three Toronto and two Montreal trips.
“There’s a great demand for it. We’ve got the business community that does a lot of travelling, then we’ve got students that want to get back to school… people trying to get away on vacation with their kids,” Carle remarked.
Seizures of Flair’s planes
The return of Flair comes weeks after four of the airline’s planes were seized over what they deemed a “commercial dispute,” with a U.S.-based lessor, causing flight cancellations.
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When asked, Carle noted there are no concerns for the airport, given Flair’s transparency.
“Their VP of scheduling reached out to our CEO as soon as it happened and just wanted to reaffirm their commitment to Saint John and that they were coming back here,” she said.
In an interview with Global News, Eric Tanner, the vice-president of network planning and revenue management for Flair Airlines, said they expect the cancellations to be more of a one-off than a trend.
“You know, we are flying, we continue to fly, we’ve covered all of our flights for the last several weeks, and we will continue to do so for years to come,” Tanner stated.
According to one expert, it’s not a surprise to see Flair add more stops despite the recent turbulence. However, John Gradek, a faculty lecturer at McGill University in aviation management, said the airline comes with additional risk, especially if there are cancellations.
“If they’re really busy, there’s not many available seats, so if that plane is cancelled, they will protect you on Flair, but it may not be as close to your original plan as you would like, so that’s the risk you take,” Gradek said.
In the coming months, Gradek said it would not be surprising to see the company begin to hike fares after an “introductory” phase.
More service
This year will mark the third summer season in which Flair Airlines has descended upon Saint John, noted Tanner. It’s increased the number of trips to three given the past interest in the low-cost route.
“We’re certainly very happy with the bookings we’ve seen,” he noted, adding, “for the most part, our bookings are ahead of the curve.”
Tanner noted capacity limits at Toronto Pearson International Airport can make continuing service into the winter difficult.
“Right now, I think my focus in the Saint John market is to add depth to the existing flights that we have, so adding weekly frequencies is a really important step to us,” Tanner said.
“We would like to get Toronto, Saint John to be a multiple daily kind of flight because what that means really is we’ve grown the market.”
In the meantime, Carle noted they will continue to look for ways to boost the availability for service for Saint John.
“We’re always in the works, we’re always talking to other airlines, and there’s hope to be able to make some announcements in the next little while,” Carle said.
“We’ve been having a lot of deep conversations with carriers we currently have as well as some others, so that’s always a good sign.”
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