Air Canada won’t resume flights to Yellowknife until June 30

Air Canada service to Yellowknife will resume at the end of June, a month later than the airline committed to in April as a condition to receive $4 billion in federal funding.

The federal Department of Finance announced in an April statement it would support Air Canada to the tune of $4 billion in repayable loans and investments. The statement listed “a number of commitments” for Air Canada to meet the conditions of the agreement.

One of the commitments was restarting “vital domestic air services,” including service to Yellowknife, no later than June 1.

A spokesperson for Air Canada confirmed by email that the airline’s next flight to Yellowknife will be from Calgary on June 30.

The airline is scheduled to operate Air Canada Express flights to Calgary three times a week on Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays. It will be flying Q-400 planes.

Randy Straker, regional manager of the Yellowknife Airport, confirmed by phone the first Air Canada flight into Yellowknife will be on June 30.

Straker said Air Canada only provided an exact date for resuming operations in the past two weeks.

Yellowknife has been without service from Air Canada since the airline suspended flights to the city in January. Flights to and from the south operated by WestJet and Canadian North have continued, though in some cases with a reduced schedule.