Discount airline Flair announces expansion into Maritimes

Flair Airlines will offer service to the Maritimes this spring and summer, the discount carrier announcedWednesday.

Flair, which bills itself as Canada's only independent low-fare airline, announced flights will begin May 1 in Halifax and Saint John, and in Charlottetown on June 4.

The airline will add the following Maritime routes:

• Service to Toronto, Ottawa and Waterloo out of Halifax.
• Service to Toronto from Charlottetown and Saint John.

Flair had originally intended to expand into the Maritimes in 2020, but put those plans on hold because of the pandemic.The Maritime flights are part of a broader expansion that includes eight new Canadian destinations.

According to the Flair website, a return flight from Charlottetown to Toronto, including taxes and fees, will cost $98.27.

Flair president and CEO Stephen Jones said Flair continues to support the restrictions on non-essential travel, but he believes travel restrictions will have eased enough by this summer for the airline to get a full domestic network flying.

Jones acknowledged there is still uncertainty.

"No one's got a crystal ball, but we just have to make our plans based on the best evidence that we have," he said.

"If we don't decide now and we don't move now it'll be too late for the summer, because we need to allow some time for people to book flights. So we're planning now, we're going on sale now, and we're hoping that people will start to plan their summers now with a degree of confidence and positivity as well."

The airline is providing COVID coverage that will allow people to get refunds or change flights.

With the new destinations, Flair willserve18 cities in Canada.

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