Canadians will soon have a new low-cost airline to consider when making domestic flights.
The Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) announced March 29 that Winnipeg-based NewLeaf Travel Co. can operate as a re-seller of air travel and therefore does not require a licence.
A CTA review January forced the upstart discount airline to postpone what was a planned February 12 launch.
The airline then announced January 18 that it would refund tickets that were purchased after the airline announced January 6 that it would launch operations.
NewLeaf plans to operate flights between Abbotsford International Airport and Winnipeg, Regina and Saskatoon.
NewLeaf originally believed that it did not need a license because it had a charter agreement with Kelowna-based Flair Airlines Ltd., which already has an operating licence from the CTA.
NewLeaf executives had thought that a licence would not be necessary because all the airline was doing was marketing and selling seats to the public.
The CTA has finally agreed.
The business plan for the airline remains to charge for all bags as well as for services such as priority boarding. It will also avoid travel to Canada’s major centres and instead focus on smaller, underserved airports.
Its flights were scheduled to operate between:
•Abbotsford;
•Halifax;
•Hamilton;
•Kelowna;
•Regina;
•Saskatoon; and
•Winnipeg.
