An airline that launched flights from Iqaluit to Montreal this past summer has now cancelled its route.
David Sade, the vice-president of operations at Chrono Aviation, said the decision was made after the company was unable to acquire a larger aircraft — the Boeing 737-800 — because of maintenance issues and delays.
The route launched in August, with tickets going on sale in May this year. Now, its flights will shut down as of Dec. 1.
Chrono Aviation usually uses a Boeing 737-200 for flights to the North. It also provides service for workers at Baffinland Iron Mines, near Pond Inlet.
The larger aircraft would have increased seat capacity from 120 seats to 189 seats, Sade said.
The company made a deal with the mine to sell extra seats to the public.
“Both the mine and us, we want to offer more affordable fares to the North,” Sade said. “And part of the deal was, OK, we have all these extra seats on the aircraft. Can we sell them to the public? And there was an agreement that, yes, we could. And that’s what we did.”
“As far as the aircraft, we need an aircraft to do this route or this flight, and without having that aircraft anymore, we can’t continue it.”
Sade said the company used planes from Sunwing for a month and then from Flare. But those aircraft are needed for the winter season, with Sunwing and Flare doing more flights to the south, Sade said.
Company put under administration
The airline was put under administration last month by a Quebec court for not being able to meet its obligations to its creditors.
Deloitte was appointed as Chrono Aviation’s creditor on Oct. 18, according to Deloitte’s website.
In its report, written in French, Deloitte said the company owed $74 million in liabilities.
Sade said that has nothing to do with the route’s cancellation.
“It’s strictly because of the aircraft and the aircraft availability,” he said.
The route was supposed to fly four times a week between Iqaluit and the Montreal Metropolitan Airport on Montreal’s south shore.
Tickets were $699 one way and include taxes, carry-on baggage and a meal.
Sade said all customers impacted by the cancellation will receive full refunds.
“It’s very difficult with a monopoly in the North, when you have one major airline that operates there, it doesn’t make it easy for other airlines to operate in the region or to compete, you know,” he said.
Sade also said the cancellation will not have any effect on mine workers