Flair landing in city in June with $59 Toronto airfare

Ultra-low-cost airline plans to fly total of 1.5 million passengers this year

Ottawa travellers can look forward to some pretty hefty bargains this spring as ultra-low-cost carrier Flair Airlines brings its price battles with Swoop airlines to the capital and other eastern centres.

The Edmonton-based carrier is marketing introductory offers of $59 one-way fares between Ottawa and Toronto in mid-June. Other destinations include Halifax, Charlottetown and Saint John, as well as a number of connections in Western Canada.

Flair plans daily service between Toronto International Airport and Ottawa, six-day-a-week runs to Halifax, and three flights each a week to Edmonton and Calgary. Flair operates seven Boeing 737 aircraft, four 737-400s and three 737-800s.

“Having flown nearly one million passengers in 2019 and with plans to fly 1.5 million in 2020, we are proud to be expanding our reach further across the country,” Flair CEO Jim Scott says in a company news release.

Ottawa International Airport Authority president/CEO Mark Laroche noted in the statement that “airlines like Flair have changed the aviation landscape worldwide by delivering lower-cost unbundled fares.

“Every passenger has the choice to pay for the options they value, such as seat assignments, checked bags, as well as inflight food and beverage. Flair Airlines is a welcome addition to YOW’s offering.” he says.

The battle between Flair and Swoop, a WestJet subsidiary, is being closely watched in the airline industry. Flair pulled out of flights to Abbotsford, B.C., due to the intense competition.

Flair’s Scott says an intense focus on the Abbotsford-Edmonton route by Swoop resulted in a glut of cheap tickets.

Swoop unveiled a “loonie sale” earlier this year, offering up to 100,000 seats for a base fare of $1 before taxes and fees.

More than one-quarter of the seats under the loonie deal are on the Edmonton-Abbotsford route, which Swoop points out is its highest-frequency route.

In 2019, Flair opted to leave Hamilton for Toronto’s Pearson International Airport, just months after Swoop landed at the smaller airport.

In 2018, the federal Competition Bureau launched a predatory pricing investigation into Swoop and WestJet over allegations the carriers used anticompetitive practices to crowd out Flair from at least three routes.

That investigation is ongoing.