Air North to add new Whitehorse-Victoria service

Yukon-based Air North will soon offer regular flight service between Whitehorse and Victoria.

"It will depend upon how the traffic develops, but we're optimistic that it's going to be a successful addition to the route network," said company president Joe Sparling.

The Victoria stops will be added to the airline's existing route to Kelowna, B.C., making a triangle. The service will be offered twice weekly, on Mondays and Fridays, Sparling said.

In recent years, Air North has offered occasional direct flights between the two capitals, for example onthe Thanksgiving weekend. Many Yukonersgo to Victoria that weekend to run in the city's annual marathon.

"We'veexperimentedintheVictoria market for a number of years with one-off flights and they've sold out every time," said Sparling,

"So, we felt this was an opportune time to test the market a little bit."

The first scheduled flightwill be May 18.