Newfoundland and Labrador government subsidizing pricey Labrador airfare

Lela Evans, Newfoundland and Labrador's minister of Labrador affairs, speaks to reporters in St. John's, N.L., on April 29, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sarah Smellie

ST. JOHN’S — The Newfoundland and Labrador government says Labrador residents flying within or out of the region can get up to four return tickets subsidized.

Residents along the tip of Newfoundland’s Great Northern Peninsula are also eligible for the discounted tickets.

A government news release says residents can begin applying for tickets next week, and the offer is good until March 31, 2027.

Return flights between the provincial capital and Nain, the largest town in the Inuit Nunatsiavut region, can cost more than $2,000 without subsidies.

Some in Labrador were outraged when the former Liberal government announced support for the St. John’s International Airport Authority in 2023 for a deal with WestJet to provide direct flights between the city and Europe.

Labrador Affairs Minister Lela Evans says her Progressive Conservative government’s subsidy improves upon a program launched by the Liberals last year that offered cheaper rates for two tickets and excluded travel within Labrador.

“One of the biggest burdens that people face living in Labrador, with the wide landscape, and the huge geographic distance between the communities is airfare,” Evans said in an interview.

There are six communities along Labrador’s vast northeastern coast that are only accessible by plane or ferry. Evans is from Makkovik, the second-most southern of the fly-in towns.

Newfoundland and Labrador is home to about 540,000 people, though only about 26,650 live in Labrador.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 8, 2026.