With Air Canada receiving bailout loan money from the federal government, it will be restoring daily flights to Vancouver and Calgary from Kamloops on its Q400 planes.
Kamloops Airport Managing Director Ed Ratuski says he’s pleased to see these flights get underway again on June 1, noting the airline industry is starting to see some recovery.
“We’ve got additional services by Central Mountain Air that just started this week. WestJet is offering their Edmonton service this summer which is new to Kamloops. So we’re starting to see a little bit of recovery and a little bit of optimism, as we move into the summer season,” he told NL News.
On April 5, Central Mountain Air relaunched a twice-weekly flight between Kamloops and Vancouver. That new Vancouver flight was announced in January, one week after Air Canada indefinitely suspended service to Vancouver, citing COVID-19.
Pacific Coastal Airlines also launched a Kamloops-to-Vancouver flight on Feb. 9, with flights six days a week.
However, despite the uptick in activity at YKA, Ratuski says people are still being told to only travel for essential reasons.
Yesterday, Air Canada and the federal government agreed to terms on a loan of up to $5.9 billion, in response to impacts during the COVID-19 pandemic.
As part of the relief funding, Air Canada has to restore regional flights that were suspended because of the pandemic. It also has to provide customer refunds. The agreement also comes with restrictions on how the funds are used, limits to compensation for executives, and requirements to maintain a minimum number of staff.