Aklak Air will be adding a second flight to its weekly service schedule.
The Inuvik-based airline, which mainly services fly-in communities in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region (ISR), reduced its services in late March as a safety precaution during the Covid-19 pandemic – cutting down its scheduled service flights from three a week to just one.
In a letter posted to Facebook, general manager Ken Dalton thanked customers for their “patience and understanding” regarding the schedule changes.
“It was a difficult decision,” the letter read, “but it was a necessary one to help us make it through this difficult time and to continue serving the residents in the communities of the ISR.”
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Now, the company has announced it will be adding a second weekly flight per route each week in a move to return to “pre-pandemic normalcy” after negotiating funding from the GNWT.
As of October 1, flights departing from Inuvik to Sachs Harbour and Ulukhaktok will be available every Monday and Thursday at 2:30pm, while flights from Inuvik to Paulatuk will be available every Tuesday and Friday at 2:30pm.
Flights will be added each week if demand requires, the letter stated. The company said it will continue to ensure the “movement of essential goods” is not affected.
The letter reminded customers flights could be reduced again at any time, “with little to no notice.”
“Thus far, everyone in the NWT has done a great job keeping the virus out of the territory, so we continue to ask everyone to please stay safe and healthy, wear masks when physical distancing is not possible, only travel if absolutely necessary, and we look forward to serving you at full capacity once we’ve defeated this Covid-19 virus,” the letter concluded.
