Low-cost carrier NewLeaf launches Hamilton flights
Canada’s first experiment with ultra low-cost flights
Flying across Canada has become a lot cheaper with the launch of a new travel option from Hamilton’s airport.
NewLeaf Travel Company, the country’s first experiment with the ultralow cost flying model, officially took off across the country Monday. Its first departure from Hamilton left at 10 a.m. bound for Winnipeg.
“This is an absolutely thrilling moment for NewLeaf Travel Company,” said Dean Dacko, the venture’s chief commercial officer.
“We’ve known for 25 years that Canadians have been underserviced in their desire to fly coast to coast. We are just so amazingly happy and thrilled to offer these flights.”
The Boeing 737-400 series jet used for the flight holds a maximum of 166 passengers and 154 of those seats were booked for the first flight out of Hamilton.
“You couldn’t get any more full. We just held a couple back unless something happened at the last second,” Dacko said.
Under the ultralow cost flight model, the fare paid by a passenger covers only a seat on the flight. Everything else, from baggage to food and entertainment, is extra.
By carving off services any particular customer doesn’t need or want, the company can offer fares as low as $79 one way.
“What we want to do ultimately is put the power of choice back in the hands of the consumer, where it belongs. We offer an incredibly low fare and then provide the customer the choice of how they want to have the travel experience from there,” Dacko said.
“Ultimately you’re not paying for someone else’s services, you’re paying for what you want.”
The company’s target, he said, is for fares to be 25 to 30 per cent less than market rates.
NewLeaf is not an airline in the traditional sense; it does not operate its own aircraft. It sells tickets for flights operated by British Columbia-based Flair Airlines.
That model caused some early turbulence for the company when a self-styled consumer advocate complained to transport regulators that the company should have an airline licence. That argument was eventually rejected by a tribunal, but it did delay the start of flights by several months.
“We’re happy to have gotten past all those issues that others have raised,” Dacko said.
“We took a pause at a very difficult time. It was a financially difficult decision but we always take the position to put our customers interests first.”
Dacko said the company estimates there’s a potential market of 4.2 million Canadians who drive across the U.S. border for cheap flights now — a demand he thinks NewLeaf can capture through low fares made possible by rigid cost control and the low costs of operating from John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport.
Looking ahead, Dacko said the company’s plan is for rapid growth. Expanded fall and Christmas schedules will be announced soon, along with sun destinations.
Other routes, such as Ottawa, are also on the radar.
“Our intention is to grow rapidly from here,” he said. “Hamilton is going to be one of our hubs so we will be adding a lot more service.”
“We believe in Hamilton as a hub. There is a sizable demand for service out of Hamilton.”
Lauren Yaksich, marketing director for the airport, said the addition of new flights at a low cost option will be “hugely important” to the ongoing effort to make Hamilton a passenger option to Toronto’s congested and more expensive Pearson airport.
“We know and believe there’s an opportunity in Canada for an ultralow cost carrier and that Hamilton is strategically positioned for that service.”