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Flair cancels Thunder Bay-Ottawa route before service begins

The new route was supposed to start up in June
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THUNDER BAY — Flair Airlines has abandoned its plan to provide direct flights between Thunder Bay and Ottawa.

The low-fare carrier announced last October that it would offer twice-weekly flights starting in June, using its Boeing 737 MAX aircraft.

On Monday, a Flair spokesperson confirmed to TBnewswatch that the airline will not be proceeding with the service.

The company's explanation is that it's been "terminated for commercial reasons," but no details are being made available.

Thunder Bay travellers will still be able to fly directly back and forth from the nation's capital on Porter Airlines, beginning this month.

Porter announced its own plan to service this route last December.

Twice-daily flights using Dash 8-400 turboprop aircraft will commence on March 27.

Four of the aircraft Flair leases for use throughout its network were recently seized because lease payments were overdue, disrupting the travel plans of almost 2,000 customers across the country.

The company has said it was in arrears for only a few days, and that the overdue payments have been made.

Flair continues to provide direct flights between Thunder Bay and Toronto.

WestJet recently announced its Thunder Bay-Toronto service will be eliminated at the end of April as the company focuses on direct flights within Western Canada, and service to tropical destinations.

The company is significantly ramping up service between Thunder Bay and Winnipeg.

— TBnewswatch