Carrier will add several routes carrying people south
IAN STALKER
Flair Airlines has its sights set on some warm wintertime locales, with sun-soaked Puerto Vallarta’s tourism trade being one of the beneficiaries.
The Edmonton-based carrier’s now available 2023 winter schedule features several new routes, with Toronto-Puerto Vallarta beginning Oct. 29, and available 4 times a week; Kitchener-Waterloo-Puerto Vallarta starting Dec. 16, and offered 3 times a week; Calgary-Las Vegas available as of Oct. 30, and offered 7 times a week; Calgary-Phoenix starting Oct. 30, and available 4 times a week; and twice-weekly Ottawa-Las Vegas beginning Oct. 13.
Existing service from Vancouver and Edmonton to Phoenix will move to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport for the season, along with the new Calgary-Phoenix service.
“You’ll see us continue to expand…and make travel more affordable,” Flair COO Garth Lund said during a recent news conference.
The carrier now has 19 planes, plans to add 6 more, hopes to have 50 by 2025, and states that “Flair is growing to serve over 35 cities across Canada, the U.S., and Mexico.”
“With today’s exciting announcement, we are reaffirming our commitment to Canadians,” Flair CEO Stephen Jones said during the news conference. “Our network offers more choice to more sun destinations than ever before. Rather than one reprieve from winter, we look forward to Canadians taking the opportunity to try all of the amazing destinations in our network.”
Lund added Flair is focusing on adding depth to its network by increasing frequencies on popular routes, having decided on daily service on various routes, including Vancouver-Los Angeles and Toronto-Orlando.
The carrier reports that it has tripled the number of flights it offers since 2021 and has also seen nearly 300% growth in passengers in the 2019-2022 period.
Jones said Flair’s average domestic one-way fare last year was $125, which he said significantly undercut fares offered by the likes of Air Canada and WestJet.
“We’ve brought fares down dramatically,” he said of an airline whose “raison d’etre is lower fares and getting people travelling again…Clearly we are the low-fare leader.”
This country has seen several airlines begin operation within the past few years, with Jones acknowledging that “there will be challenges” in this country’s competitive aviation industry.
Jones said “that there will be a low-cost carrier (in the future of Canadian aviation) and I think that will be Flair.”
He said that Flair has been able to keep its operating costs low, enabling it to continue to offer low fares.
With an expanding fleet of Boeing 737 aircraft, Flair is growing to serve over 35 cities across Canada, the U.S., and Mexico.
