Some Air Canada flights from Sydney on hold
SYDNEY — It appears the uncertainty over Nova Scotia’s plans to reopen the province has led to a further delay for the resumption of some scheduled flights in and out of Sydney’s J.A. Douglas McCurdy Airport.
Airport chief executive officer Mike MacKinnon has confirmed that Air Canada has opted to push back the restart date for its Sydney service to and from Halifax and Montréal from late June until sometime in August. He added that flights to and from Toronto are, at least for now, still scheduled to resume in early July. Both Air Canada and WestJet halted service at the Cape Breton airport in mid-January
MacKinnon said the latest delays are due to the widespread uncertainly about the province’s reopening and the low number of bookings that have been made since Air Canada announced its pending return to the Sydney airport.
“We feel the plan is lacking in detail and date targets that we and our airline partners need in order to plan – it’s definitely hindering airline restart plans,” said MacKinnon, a 39-year veteran of the aviation industry who took over the helm of the Sydney airport in 2017.
“Certainly, customers looking to book flights want to know if there will be restrictions or not when they want to travel. We’ve heard from passengers outside of Nova Scotia who told us they want to come to Cape Breton but are looking to book elsewhere because of the uncertainty.
“People are booking to go somewhere else because Nova Scotia might (reopen), well, nobody knows when.”
He said that at this point WestJet still plans to resume service between Sydney and Halifax on June 28, the same date that the Newfoundland headquartered PAL Airlines is set to begin its new flights in and out of Cape Breton.
Earlier this week, MacKinnon joined the leaders of 17 other organizations with
direct or indirect involvement in the tourism industry signing a letter to Nova Scotia Premier Iain Rankin expressing their discontent with the province’s reopening plan. Other signatories to the letter included the Halifax International Airport Authority, the Hotel Association of Nova Scotia, the Restaurant Association of Nova Scotia, the chambers of commerce for Halifax, Cape Breton Regional and Strait area, the Destination Cape Breton Association and the Sydney Downtown Development Association.
The following are selected excerpts from the letter:
• “The travel industry is made up of a highly interdependent supply chain that is only as strong as its weakest link. As we prepare for recovery, coordination and timing will be critical if we are to seize any opportunity for a portion of this season.”
• “Our review of the current plan concludes that there is a lack of critical detail in key areas required to provide this necessary guidance.”
• “There is mounting evidence for a possible strong rebound of summer travel within Canada this year. Canadians are expected to be expanding their travel plans beyond their local provinces, yet staying within Canada.”
• “We see no reason to delay opening to other provinces based on arbitrary dates and we would encourage opening to be based on epidemiology and vaccination rates as they align with Nova Scotia.
• “We believe that the current patchwork of diverging opening plans, dates, and requirements across Atlantic Canada and nationally are providing significant challenges for the industry and potential visitors. This is especially challenging for businesses, including tour operators, airlines, and transportation providers, who cross interprovincial borders in the Maritimes.”
The letter went on to include three recommendations: the province clarifies the goal of its plan, be more definitive in its targeted and estimated opening dates and collaborate more with other provinces to align opening standards and dates.