NewLeaf flights will be returning to Victoria skies in 2017, a company representative said November 16.
The Winnipeg-based low-cost air-travel provider began operating flights out of several B.C. cities, including Victoria and Vancouver, in late July 2016. The company said in September that it was suspending flights to and from Victoria in November and December and did not post resumption dates.
“We do have plans on the horizon, not for winter, but they are definitely for late spring and then throughout the summer,” said Julie Rempel, NewLeaf spokeswoman.
“Our cross-your-fingers plan would be to release that schedule shortly after Christmas,” she said, adding that it would likely be out in early January. “We are working on it right now.”
The comments contradicted an email that Victoria resident Don Privet received from NewLeaf this week stating: “At this time NewLeaf does not have any plans to add service back into Victoria.”
He had written the airline asking about flights between Victoria and Edmonton.
Details on future Victoria routes and schedules are not available yet, Rempel said.
NewLeaf offered flights from Victoria to Edmonton, Kamloops and Winnipeg and billed itself as a seat-only, no-frills service. Fares were well under those offered by WestJet and Air Canada, including one-way tickets at $60 to Kelowna.
NewLeaf services communities such as Kelowna, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Hamilton and Halifax. It said November 16 that it is offering seasonal flights out of Calgary and Edmonton to Phoenix starting in mid-January. Flights from Hamilton to Florida will start January 15.
