Upstart discount airline NewLeaf Travel Co. plans to launch February 12 with flights between Abbotsford International Airport and Winnipeg, Regina and Saskatoon.
The business plan for the no-frills airline, which will charge for all bags as well as for services such as priority boarding, is to avoid travel to Canada’s major centres and instead focus on smaller, underserved airports.
Introductory fares for flights are $89 between Abbotsford and both Saskatoon and Regina. It will cost $119 to fly between Abbotsford and Winnipeg.
The airline will also include flights to cities such as Kelowna, Hamilton, Halifax but those destinations will not be accessible non-stop from Abbotsford.
“Abbotsford Airport is always excited to expand opportunities for our customers,” said Abbortsford Airport Authority chair Dave Holmberg. “It’s great to welcome new business and we wish NewLeaf much success at YXX.”
NewLeaf is partnering with Kelowna-based charter airline Flair Airlines for planes, crew and maintenance work.
The company will use Boeing 737-400 planes, which have 156 seats in a configuration that has three seats on each side of a centre aisle.
Demand for no-frills flights to smaller Canadian centres was the impetus for entrepreneurs, including David Solloway , to propose creating Vancouver-based Canada Jetlines , Ltd. in November 2013. That group had high hopes but their company hit turbulence.
Jetlines’ original plan was to launch flights in early 2015. Glitches, as well as a lawsuit, delayed that launch and it is unclear whether Jetlines will ever get a plane in the sky.
Its business plan, however, was similar not only to NewLeaf but also to successful no-frills carriers such as Ireland’s Ryanair and of Spirit Airlines and Allegiant Air in the U.S.
“Most of our main routes feature non-stop flights that aren’t currently offered,” NewLeaf CEO Jim Young said in a release.
“The ultra-low-cost business model we’re using has proven successful around the world and we’re excited to bring it to Canada.”
