Canadian North is abandoning its direct flights between Yellowknife and Calgary, four months after launching the service.
In a news release on Thursday, the airline said it was “adjusting its schedule to align valuable resources to provide better service” after “weeks of consultation with northern communities.”
Without directly stating how the resources saved by cancelling the Calgary route would be used elsewhere, the airline sought to promote its new “Arctic Capital Express” service between Yellowknife, Iqaluit and Ottawa, which flies for the first time on June 8.
June 30 will mark the last Calgary-Yellowknife flight. The route began on February 14.
“Changing market conditions resulted in demand for this new route not materializing,” said Shelly De Caria, Canadian North’s associate vice-president of sales and community investments, in a statement.
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“We are committed to make life better in the communities we serve. While this single route is ending, we see good demand for our one-of-a-kind Arctic Capital Express, taking our passengers where they need to be, on time and on budget.”
Canadian North has faced criticism in Norman Wells for scrapping half of its flights to and from the community in its latest schedule.
The town’s mayor said he was in talks with the airline about restoring at least some of the dropped flights. There was no mention of that situation in Canadian North’s Thursday news release.
Air Canada dropped direct flights between Yellowknife and Calgary last fall, which was a factor at the time in Canadian North’s decision to take on the route. WestJet will now be the only operator flying between the two cities non-stop.
