Air North launching new direct YK-Vancouver flights

Air North will introduce seasonal direct flights from Yellowknife to Vancouver in January, the airline announced at a tourism convention on Thursday.

Air North executive Ed Peart, addressing attendees at NWT Tourism’s annual gala in Yellowknife, said flights would operate twice weekly, on Mondays and Fridays.

Currently, Air Canada is the only other operator of daily direct service between the two cities.

The flights take around two hours and thirty minutes.

Non-stop return trips in mid-January with Air Canada were retailing on its website for $511, at the airline’s basic economy tier, as of Friday morning.

A search of Air North’s website on Friday morning showed the new flights are already available. The first scheduled flight south to Vancouver is on January 17. A round trip coming back on January 20 would cost $498.

“We’ve decided to connect Yellowknife and the North to another southern hub that will facilitate the NWT’s tourism industry which we all rely on,” Peart said on Thursday.

The flights, Peart said, would “allow connections from Asia so that international visitors can experience the incredible winter tourism product that the NWT has to offer.”

He continued: “This schedule will allow NWT residents to experience a getaway down to Vancouver at an affordable fare or for family and friends to come visit the North.”

The news comes a year after Air North scaled back its service from Yellowknife to Ottawa.

This year, direct flights from the NWT to the Canadian capital have been only seasonal. Previously, they had been year-round.