Canada's Flair Airlines will drop flights to Los Angeles Burbank Airport in favor of Los Angeles International Airport in late October. The airport switcheroo will affect Flair's two existing routes into Los Angeles and substantially reduce the overall flight options from Hollywood Burbank. In addition to making changes in Los Angeles, the airline is also boosting its services into Mexico later this year.

Flair switches to LAX on October 31

From October 31, Flair's three times a-week flights from Edmonton (YEG) to Los Angeles Burbank (BUR) will switch to YEG - LAX. On November 1, the four-times-a-week flights between Vancouver (YVR) and Burbank will switch to LAX. While several airlines offer connecting services between Burbank and the two Canadian cities, only Flair Airlines offered nonstop services on the two routes from Burbank to Canada.

But there is no shortage of competition on the routes from LAX into Canada. Air Canada, American Airlines, United Airlines, and WestJet all fly between YVR and LAX, while WestJet currently flies between Edmonton and LAX. However, Flair Airlines will be the only self-declared low-cost carrier plying the two routes.

"We are thrilled to have secured gate availability at LAX's spectacular new Tom Bradley International Terminal," said Flair Chief Executive Officer Stephen Jones. "We are confident that our LAX service will resonate well with our customers and are looking forward to growing our capacity in the market starting this winter."

LAX's gain is Burbank's loss

Flair's move from Hollywood Burbank is significant for that airport. It reduces the number of passenger airlines flying into the airport to ten and reduces the number of countries served from BUR to just two - the US and Mexico. Burbank's latest passenger statistics cover May 2022. That month, Flair flew 2,724 passengers in and out of BUR, giving it the lowest market share of all the passenger airlines at the airport.

Closer to the coast, Flair's arrival at LAX rated a mention on the airport's social media channels. That airport's own statistics reveal it handled over 47,000 aircraft movements and 6.1 million passengers in June. Airline analytics group OAG ranks LAX the fifth-biggest airport in the US (based on seat availability) in July and the ninth-busiest in the world.

With around 1,500 aircraft movements a day at LAX, Flair will be just one of over 75 airlines serving the airport. LAX finished the long-awaited upgrades to its Tom Bradley International Terminal last year. The four-plus-year construction project included a new state-of-the-art 15-gate facility, the West Gates. As Stephen Jones noted, there's a bit of extra capacity at LAX now, and Flair was able to make the switch.

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Mexico gets some attention from Flair Airlines

Meanwhile, the Los Angeles market isn't the only part of the Flair network getting some attention. The airline also confirmed it would start flying between Toronto (YYZ) and Cancun (CUN) twice a week from November 3. In the same month, Flair is also increasing frequencies on existing routes between Vancouver and Puerto Vallarta (PVR) and Vancouver and Los Cabos (SJD).

"As we continue our growth in the Mexican market, we look forward to increasing frequencies on our routes and adding new destinations," noted Mr Jones.