Swoop adds flights in Atlantic Canada, seeking to lure Air Canada customers
Posted Jan 9, 2020 12:37:57 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
CALGARY — Budget airline Swoop is adding flights to three Atlantic Canadian cities from Hamilton this summer.
The expansion by the low-cost subsidiary of WestJet Airlines Ltd. marks the parent company’s latest move to challenge Air Canada’s dominance in the Maritimes.
The new flights also represent a boon for Hamilton’s John C. Munro International Airport, which suffered several losses last fall when ultra-low-cost rival Flair Airlines took off for Toronto’s Pearson airport and Air Canada cancelled its Hamilton-Montreal route amid sluggish sales.
Swoop’s new routes to St. John’s, Nfld., Moncton, N.B., and Charlottetown will run between late June and late October. WestJet and its regional service WestJet Encore already fly to the three cities from Toronto.
The Calgary-based company says its newly delivered 10th aircraft is helping make the routes possible, with the flights running daily to St. John’s and several times a week to Moncton and Charlottetown.
Last year, Swoop parent WestJet was bought by Onex Corp. as the carrier continues to encroach on traditional Air Canada turf by adding discount routes as well as transatlantic flights and premium fares.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 9, 2020.
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