Canadian budget carrier Flair Airlines announced this past week that it would be launching a number of services to and from the nation's capital, Ottawa. The eight cities, scattered across the country, will get direct service to Ottawa/Macdonald–Cartier International Airport with Flair's Boeing 737s - two of which will eventually be based at YOW.
"Ottawa is among several new destinations Flair is adding to its network as the airline grows to serve 19 Canadian cities. Flair’s first of 13 new Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft started passenger service on June 10 and more of the new aircraft are joining the fleet throughout 2021." -Flair Airlines
Connecting Ottawa to eight Canadian cities
Ideal for those looking to explore Canada's capital city, or for Canadians needing to visit an Ottawa-based foreign embassy, Flair Airline's new non-stop services will begin this month.
Some of these services will be promoted with shockingly low one-way airfares, as an airline executive states:
“We are delighted to start operations at our newest base in Ottawa. Just in time for summer, we are bringing affordable travel options with one way fares as low as $49 on several routes. -Garth Lund, Chief Commercial Officer
Service will begin in June with non-stop service to Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Calgary. In August, the schedule expands to include Ottawa flights to Halifax, Kelowna, and Abbotsford.
According to a statement by Flair Airlines, this is a list of sample one-way fares. The airline notes that all base fares are inclusive of taxes and fees. However, there are limited seats and limited availability when it comes to these prices:
- Ottawa to Halifax: $49 one way, travel on October 14, 2021
- Ottawa to Abbotsford: $59 one way, travel on September 9, 2021
- Ottawa to Toronto: $49 one way, travel on July 7, 2021
- Ottawa to Winnipeg: $49 one way, travel on October 27, 2021
- Ottawa to Edmonton: $49 one way, travel on September 10, 2021
- Ottawa to Calgary: $49 one way, travel on November 11, 2021
- Ottawa to Vancouver: $59 one way, travel on October 26, 2021
- Ottawa to Kelowna: $59 one way, travel on October 23, 2021
Simple Flying was able to experience Flair's services on a short flight between Vancouver and Calgary. The experience and review can be found here.
Flair's newest base
These new services are made possible with several of the airline's jets based in Ottawa. "By August, we will have two aircraft based in Ottawa and provide non-stop, low fares to eight cities while creating more than 70 jobs in the community," the airline's Chief Commercial Officer notes.
At this time, the airline has its Boeing 737s based at several airports across the country, including Edmonton (YEG), Vancouver (YVR), Toronto Pearson (YYZ), and Kitchener-Waterloo (YKF).
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Aggressive fleet expansion underway
Flair Airlines is now embarking on an aggressive fleet expansion which will see an initial push from its previous fleet size of three 737-800s up to 16 737s. This will be made possible with the addition of 13 leased Boeing 737 MAX 8s.
The airline has a longer-term goal to have a fleet of fifty jets. It appears that Flair will adhere to the typical operating model of low-cost carriers by having a single-type-fleet. While the carrier's initial MAX order is for the MAX 8, a recent interview with the airline's CEO notes that it's possible the carrier will eventually take up the high-capacity version of the MAX 8- the MAX 200.
“We’re going to stay purely with the MAX. We do like the look of the game-changer, the 200, and so it’s likely that we would add those into the fleet if possible. It’s a slightly bigger aircraft in terms of the number of passengers on board, not on the physical size. It would naturally go on to some of the trunk routes,” Flair's CEO Stephen Jones told Simple Flying.
With new routes at extremely low prices, do you think Canada's more established carriers should be worried about Flair's growing presence in the Canadian market? Let us know in the comments.