Flair cancels WindsorMontreal flights, but is planning new market addition in 2023
A fairly recent flight option at Windsor International Airport is no more.
Flair Airlines has decided to stop its biweekly flight service from Windsor to Montreal, Quebec for the time being, according to a statement from a spokesperson.
Passengers who have booked tickets will receive full refunds.
Additionally, flights from Windsor to Halifax, Nova Scotia are being paused until June but tickets are available for when the first flights of 2023 to that destination begin.
It's not all bad news from Flair however, as they will be announcing a new market from Windsor 'in due course'.
"Flair Airlines, Canada's leading low-fare airline has brought seasonal service from Windsor to Tucson, Arizona and Halifax which have been well-received by customers. Flair is committed to Windsor and travelers in the region. We look forward to continuing service from Windsor, at the lowest fares on offer," the statement read.
Windsor Airport CEO Mark Galvin says their airline partners have to make business decisions, and they support all of their partners.
"You know Montreal they started back in June and flew it up to about February, but we always work with our airline partners to look at new routes and new service. Stay tuned in the coming weeks and hopefully it's going to be something that's going to be embraced by the community," he said.
Galvin says Halifax is more of a seasonal market, with flights last summer flying out twice a week and coming back three times a week, so he's not surprised by the pause and they still view it as a success story.
He says the airlines sometimes have to make tough decisions.
"They make decisions based on a set of business rules and a set of business protocols they have, obviously I'd love to see everything be successful for everyone. We'll continue here at YQG to look for new routes and new markets to expand choice and it's what we're doing."
Overall, Galvin says while they're seeing a lot of pent of travel demand, it's still going to take time to recover from the impacts of the pandemic.
"We went from 12 or 13 flights a day to zero for a number of months. Again what we're trying to do here is trying to find those new routes. You look at something like Halifax which was never flown before from Windsor direct, and Tucson, Arizona had never been flown before direct. So we're looking to give more choices for Essex County residents to go to the places they want to go," Galvin said.
Flair launched the Windsor-Montreal route back in early July, as part of a number of new flights that also included the service to Tuscon and Halifax.