What Happened To Canada’s Zoom Airlines?

In recent years, the name ‘Zoom’ has become synonymous with videoconferencing and communicating around the world. However, at the start of the 21st century, the word also gave its name to a low-cost Canadian airline. Based in Ottawa, Ontario, Zoom Airlines operated scheduled and charter services to various leisure destinations between 2002 and 2008.

In the beginning

Zoom Airlines came into being in May 2002 as the brainchild of two Scottish brothers, Hugh and John Boyle. The pair had decades of experience in the leisure travel sector, having entered the scene with a startup called Falcon Holidays in the 1980s. The pair eventually sold the brand and formed Direct Holidays in 1991.

Direct Holidays itself was sold to the MyTravel Group in 1998 (itself later merged with Thomas Cook). Hugh Boyle then moved to Canada to form GO Travel Direct Vacations. This company operated a streamlined business model, which meant that customers didn’t have to book through travel agents. In 2002, the Boyles took this to the next level by founding their own airline, Zoom.

A leisure-focused airline

Zoom aimed to fill a gap in the Canadian leisure market. The carrier flew to a range of transatlantic destinations, as well as locations in Asia, the Caribbean, and elsewhere in the Americas.

From Ottawa and Toronto (both in Ontario), Zoom served all four UK countries. England saw service in London and Manchester, while Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales each had one airport with a Zoom presence (Belfast, Glasgow, and Cardiff, respectively). Zoom also flew to Amsterdam, Paris, and Rome.

Not just transatlantic routes

Zoom also flew to destinations closer to home. The US leisure hotspots of Fort Lauderdale, New York, and San Diego all saw the airline make an appearance. From Canada itself, Zoom didn’t just fly out of Ontario, but also from the states of Alberta (Calgary), British Columbia (Vancouver), Manitoba (Winnipeg), Nova Scotia (Halifax), and Québec (Montréal).

For Canadians seeking a more tropical trip away, Zoom served five Caribbean destinations: Barbados, Bermuda, Grenada, Jamaica, and Trinidad. Further afield, Guyana’s Cheddi Jagan International Airport and Phuket in Thailand also saw the airline’s all-blue planes.

A solid presence in the UK

2006 was a key year for Zoom. November that year saw it launch a codeshare agreement with Scottish leisure carrier Flyglobespan. This allowed Zoom to operate two of Flyglobespan’s three weekly Manchester-Toronto flights, among other partnerships. This lasted for the 2006/07 winter season, before Flyglobespan shelved its Canadian services.

However, the agreement with Flyglobespan was not the only venture that saw Zoom increase its British footprint in 2006. Indeed, in the summer of that year, a £5.7 million investment from the Bank of Scotland catalyzed the startup of a UK-based sister airline.

Zoom Airlines UK, commenced operations the following year, in June 2007. It operated two Boeing 767-300ERs, as well as a Boeing 757-200.

Zoom Airlines Limited’s first routes saw the new carrier serve Bermuda and New York. Later, in 2007, it confirmed that Fort Lauderdale and San Diego would follow in the summer of 2008. Operating out of Belfast, Cardiff, and London Gatwick, the airline also served the French island of Corsica, as well as flying charters to Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago.

The end of the line

2006’s UK expansion heralded a potentially promising future for Zoom. However, despite this growth, its story came to an end just two years later. The collapse began on August 27th, 2008. At this point, an aircraft was stranded in Calgary after its owner canceled Zoom’s lease agreement. The airline’s debts prevented it from being refueled.

According to the BBC, the cause of Zoom’s debts had been the rising cost of jet fuel. Zoom’s business model reportedly relied on the cost of oil being around $70-80 per barrel, but by July 2008, it had reached $147. The recession in the mid to late-2000s rendered such high operating costs unsustainable for the carrier, which had 450 Canadian employees, and a further 260 in the UK. Authorities held other planes in Cardiff and Glasgow.

On August 28th, 2008, Zoom declared it was filing for administration and ceasing operations, due to its financial struggles. Simultaneously, Zoom Airlines Limited, the carrier’s UK-based sister company, also filed for bankruptcy under British law.

A small, Boeing-dominated fleet

Almost all of Zoom’s aircraft were Boeing designs, apart from an Airbus A320-200 briefly leased from Monarch (this is pictured below). The A320 wore a hybrid livery during this time, complete with the UK leisure carrier’s yellow and black cheatline.

According to data from ch-aviation.com, the most common model was the Boeing 767-300ER. Zoom operated five of these twin-engine widebodies alongside a pair of single-aisle Boeing 757-200s that dated back to 1990.

As of late 2023:

• The leased Monarch A320 was scrapped in Tupelo, Mississippi, in August 2014.
• The two former 757s have both been scrapped – one at Knock, Ireland in 2016 and the other at Goodyear in early 2023 (this aircraft flew with Astraeus and then US-based charter airline National Airlines, up to 2019).
• Four of the five 767s remain active today. These operate with cargo airlines Atlas Air, Cargojet Airways (two aircraft), and DHL Air. The fifth aircraft operated with the charter airline Omni Air International from 2010 but is currently out of service and stored.

Did you ever fly with Zoom Airlines or its UK-based sister company? If so, where did you travel to, and on what aircraft type? Let us know your thoughts and experiences in the comments section below.

Sources: BBC, ch-aviaiton.com