Tighter rules won’t affect Buffalo helicopter shuttle
Great Lakes Helicopter says it’s following all U.S. entry requirements
New rules to limit travellers entering Canada during the pandemic won’t impact a helicopter service that has been shuttling passengers from Niagara-on-the-lake to the U.S. since November.
“Since we are strictly moving passengers into the United States, the new travel restrictions don’t affect us,” said Jeremy Rood, charters manager for Great Lakes Helicopter.
Five days a week, the Cambridgebased company flies customers from Niagara District Airport across the border to Buffalo Niagara International Airport. It also arranges to have their vehicles trucked across.
With land crossings closed to nonessential travel for nearly a year, flying is the only option.
To stem the spread of COVID-19, Ottawa recently imposed new restrictions on air travel. As of Wednesday, international flights bringing passengers into Canada are allowed at only four airports — Pearson International in Toronto, as well as Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver.
Ottawa and the major airlines also suspended all flights to Mexico and
“There’s a million reasons for people to get across the border.” JEREMY ROOD GREAT LAKES HELICOPTER
Caribbean countries to discourage vacationers.
Great Lakes helicopters return with just the crew, no passengers, and can go through customs at Hamilton’s airport. Due to previous travel restrictions, no customs staff have been at Niagara District Airport since May.
Rood said Great Lakes is ensuring passengers abide by all U.S. entry requirements as well as the company’s own safety protocols.
Last month, American authorities required travellers flying into the U.S. to provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test taken no more than 72 hours prior to arrival.
“Everybody is operating within the rules of the government, and that’s good to see,” Rood said.
On its website, Great Lakes said it charges $1,500 per flight with a maximum of three passengers per trip to split the cost.
Working with different trucking firms, it also arranges to have customers’ vehicles transported to the Buffalo airport for $700 to $1,600, depending on size.
From there they are free to drive to their U.S. destination, most often Florida or Arizona.
“It’s not even just snowbirds” wanting to get to their U.S. property, Rood said.
“It’s folks that want to get across, visit family, people that have purpose to go across for business, sports, whatever. There’s a million reasons for people to get across the border.”
The ones who do own property there might choose to stay a few months before driving home, he said. Others would have to catch a commercial flight back to Toronto.
After the Canadian government announced its tougher travel restrictions in late January, he said, “We were lucky if we saw five per cent of people that decided to cancel. But we’re still getting new bookings.”
He said, “We’re solidly booked through February, we have bookings in March. The demand’s not there now, the big snowbird rush sort of ended about 10 days ago, so the last week has slowed down which we expected.”
Even so, he said, Great Lakes is flying out of the Niagara-onthe-lake airport about 18 times a week.
“All the folks that are going down are doing it knowing they’re going to follow the procedures and the protocols,” he said. “But it’s important to them for their health or whatever other reasons.”
In an interview last month, Great Lakes general manager Dwayne Henderson said he got “a few negative emails and phone calls” from people upset it was facilitating travel to the U.S. when the government was asking people to stay home.
“We’re an air operator, same as Air Canada and Westjet,” he said then, adding it has to meet the same safety requirements as those big carriers.
“For someone to be complaining about us taking passengers over, I would challenge them and say, ‘Are you complaining about Air Canada still flying to the States four times a day with 300 people a pop?’”