Low-cost airline Flair to touch down in Ottawa

The tail section of a Flair Airlines plane is seen in this undated handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, Flair Airlines

OTTAWA — Ottawa is becoming a low-cost flight destination.

Flair Airlines has announced it will be expanding with flights into Ottawa as part of a wider switch-up. The airline has been forced to pull out of the airport in Abbotsford, B.C., due to a lack of passengers and intense competition from rival budget carrier Swoop.

Its destinations out of Ottawa will include Toronto, as well as west-coast and east-coast flights beginning in June.

Introductory offers include $59 one-way flights between Ottawa and Toronto, and $79 for one-way flights from Ottawa to Halifax. Other expanded services will include flights between Calgary and Kelowna, and Toronto to Charlottetown and Saint John, NB.

In a release Flair Airlines CEO Jim Scott says they are committed to connecting people and families across the country.

“Our expanded routes into Ottawa and the Atlantic Maritimes are exciting and displays the need Canadians have for affordable air travel,” he says. “Having flown nearly one million passengers in 2019 and with plans to fly 1.5 million in 2020, we are proud to be expanding our reach further across the country.”

President of the Ottawa International Airport Authority Mark Laroche said in a statement he feels low-cost airlines like this have “changed the aviation landscape world-wide.”

A spokesperson confirms these new flights running through to October 24, 2020 are now available to be booked.