By Skies Magazine | August 22, 2022 Estimated reading time 5 minutes, 19 seconds.
New Canadian leisure airline, Canada Jetlines, announced on Aug. 18 that it has officially received its air operating certificate from Transport Canada. This means the airline is cleared to begin operations out of its hub at Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ).
Days later, the airline also confirmed that it has received its domestic, non-scheduled international, and scheduled international service licenses from the Canadian Transportation Agency.
“With the air operator certificate that was issued on Aug. 18, 2022, by Transport Canada, Canada Jetlines has now completed all government requirements and obtained all certification to start operations,” confirmed CEO Eddy Doyle.
On Aug. 26, Jetlines announced its inaugural flight will take place on Sept. 22, heading to Calgary (YYC) from Toronto (YYZ). That route will operate biweekly to start, and will increase frequency to three times per week starting Oct. 13.
The airline was originally founded in 2013 and planned to launch in the Canadian ultra-low-cost space in late 2018 or early 2019. However, that launch timeframe was pushed back, and in 2021, a new anticipated launch date of early 2022 was announced – which eventually slipped to fall 2022. In the meantime, the airline decided to change its business plan to focus on the leisure travel market.
Toronto and Calgary are Jetlines’ only confirmed destinations at the moment, but the airline eventually expects to offer more travel options within Canada, the U.S., Cuba, Jamaica, St. Lucia, Antigua, Bahamas, and other Caribbean nations.
“We will continue to build strategic partnerships with destinations, travel agencies, and airports as we build out our five-year strategy,” said Doyle.
The aircraft of choice for the leisure airline is the Airbus A320. Jetlines plans to operate a growing fleet of A320s, with a projected growth of 15 aircraft by 2025. The A320s are to be configured in a single-class, economy configuration.
The first A320 was delivered to Jetlines in late December 2021 from Irish lessor Jackson Square Aviation. From early March to August, the A320 had been parked at Chartright Air Group’s hangar at the Region of Waterloo International Airport (YKF) – just one hour southwest of Toronto Pearson.
Jetlines held a media event at YKF on March 23, where attendees were able to tour the aircraft and get more insight into the airline’s progress towards takeoff.
During the event, Jetlines board member Ravinder Minhas said the carrier is “going to do things different.” The airline intends to connect to new sun destinations and markets that are currently underserved — at competitive prices.
The carrier believes that by starting from scratch as the pandemic subsides, it will be able to establish lower leasing costs and more favorable terms.
Chief commercial officer, Duncan Bureau, emphasized during the March 23 event that the airline is “not in a position where our competitors are at, where they have had a tough couple of years in terms of their balance sheet. We’re starting with a fresh balance sheet.”
As of Aug. 26, Jetlines had not confirmed any additional routes, but the airline said it will be “releasing new destinations and updated scheduling shortly.”
