As Saskatchewan airports add more direct routes, air travelers are hopeful about their trip plans
It has been a stressful few months for Saskatchewan airports, with multiple delays and cancellations during the holidays and Sunwing Airlines reducing flights out of the province. Yet, two significant announcements recently from Regina and Saskatoon attempt to preserve travelers.
WestJet will begin offering more direct flights to Kelowna on Fridays and Sundays beginning on May 21, the Regina Airport Authority has reported. This is in addition to the other direct flights that will start operating in the summer to Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, and Winnipeg, some of which will be provided only by Air Canada.
Justin Reves, manager of customer experience and marketing at the Regina Airport Authority, said that it's a good start.
"The more places you have to stop, get off and transfer, the more chance there is that something could happen ‒ so direct flights are really good that way."
Multiple travelers claim that after hearing this statement, they feel more certain that these direct flights will continue and that more will be added to popular locations, alleviating their concerns and preventing them from having to change their travel arrangements once again.
Andrea Taylor of Regina argues that after realizing that their stopover in Calgary would only be a short one, she and her family of six were forced to spend hundreds of dollars to rearrange their flights to Mexico. She claims that they didn't want to get involved in any form of hold-up that might postpone their eagerly anticipated sunny holiday.
With more direct flights, regular business travelers like Sam Allouche could once again think about checking a bag. Due to the recent problems with baggage, travelers like him haven't been checking any bags and have just been traveling with carry-ons. It's getting much simpler with direct flights.
Returning direct routes from Saskatoon to Minneapolis
WestJet will be providing the return flights from Saskatoon to Minneapolis, as was confirmed just recently.
This comes after Delta Airlines discontinued this trip in 2016 and then its whole Saskatoon operation in the middle of 2020.
CJ Dushinski, the vice-president of business development at the Saskatoon airport, said, "We've been engaged in these conversations with WestJet essentially since [2020], in hopes that they would be able to bring this flight back to us."
For those who travel for employment, Jeremy Harrison, the province's minister of trade and export development, believes this is also good news. As he commented, the business community particularly wanted such direct linkages to U.S. major cities, where you can go everywhere in the globe with only one flight change, he said.
Beginning on June 19, there will be nonstop flights from Saskatoon to Minneapolis.
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