Earlier last week, Canada Jetlines announced their plan to begin flying out of Region of Waterloo International Airport and John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport by June 1, 2018.
The planned route map found on Jetlines.ca displays the routes based from Waterloo and Hamilton airports will fly to other large cities in Canada, including Halifax, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver by summer of 2018, then expanding to Las Vegas and Orlando in the United States by October 2018. More locations will follow including some in Florida and Cancun by April 2019.
The new airline is in the stage referred to as a start-up carrier and is in the process of funding for licenses to operate as an airline explained Chris Wood, General Manager of Waterloo International.
“They still need to work through some regulatory issues, and need to secure capital funding in order to have a license to operate as an airline,” Wood said.
In order to be an ultra-low cost carrier, the airline will focus on flying from smaller airports due to the smaller fees and costs that come with operating. In addition to lower costs, smaller airports also have less congestion issues and less airlines to compete with for the new airline.
“It could be very significant for us [Waterloo International] and we are hoping and expecting that they will increase our passenger numbers significantly over the next couple of years”
By focusing on smaller airports, Jetlines is available for the larger communities of Waterloo and Hamilton, both cities of which have a large student population. The airline is focusing on competitive prices, with the goal of being at least 30 per cent lower than other airline fares.
“I think that students are a big part of their decision to base here, with the number of students we have and I know like to go visit home but also go away, this could potentially help the local student population with affordable travel,” Wood said.
Each aircraft would likely have 189 seats, all of which would be economy class to ensure low prices.
“It’s going to be a lot less than what the other airlines are charging, their product is price and they’re going to stimulate the market with price,” Wood said.
Florida is likely to be a frequent destination for the airline as there is a large market of travelers looking for cheap flights to the state.
By 2019, Jetlines plans to serve four major cities within Florida, being Orlando, Tampa, Ft. Myers and Ft. Lauderdale.
“A lot of people from this part of the country like to go away in the winter and Florida is a big destination so I think they would like to add some flights to Florida and hope they can attract some new people as well as some existing passengers that want to get away,” Wood said.
By working with smaller airports, start-up carrier airlines have the benefit of lower costs while. at the same time, also helping increase traffic of airports in smaller cities.
“It could be very significant for [Waterloo International] and we are hoping and expecting that they will increase our passenger numbers significantly over the next couple of years,” Wood said.