Airlines trying to ‘encourage travel’ with affordable flights out of Hamilton
A faint glimmer of hope over the Hamilton horizon is actually one of several incoming affordable flights, ready to take local travellers to new domestic destinations this summer.
Last week, Swoop announced two new routes for this summer's travel season: Moncton, N.B., and Charlottetown, P.E.I., flying out of John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport.
The new destinations, along with the regular Hamilton to Halifax route, gives local consumers more choice for trips to the Maritimes for the first time in a very long time," says Dina Carlucci, the airport's director of business development and customer experience.
Normally, by this time of year, the summer schedule - which lasts from May until October - wouldn't be so up in the air. But since COVID came back with a vengeance over the holidays, airlines had to defer plans.
We do expect more announcements to come," Carlucci says.
In the meantime, one-way flights from Hamilton to Halifax can be found for prices as low as $49. And one-way flights to western Canadian destinations like Abbotsford, B.C., and Edmonton start at $59 or $69. For folks not used to low-cost carriers, that means having to pay more for carry-ons, checked luggage and other extras. The benefit, Carlucci says, is that you, the consumer, decide what you want," instead of paying for perks you don't need.
Those low prices are airlines trying to really stimulate and encourage travel," Carlucci says.
And with COVID cases dropping and a bit of optimism" going into spring and summer, domestic airlines are trying to really dot the map across Canada, knowing that there is a lot of pent-up demand," she says.
Customers who may not want to travel internationally because of testing and restrictions might feel more comfort flying domestically, she added. But since the Canadian government opened up the borders to international destinations in November, Swoop and Sunwing have also been helping locals escape the cold to Mexico, Florida and Caribbean destinations.
Jeremy Kemeny is a Hamilton-based web editor at The Spectator. Reach him via email: jkemeny@thespec.com