Flair Airlines is one of several key players in the increasingly competitive landscape of Canadian low-cost carriers. The Edmonton-headquartered airline operates budget flights out of bases throughout the country, serving both domestic and international routes in the process. December is looking like a busy month for the carrier, but what will be its most frequently served routes? Let’s find out!
Flair Airlines in a nutshell
In order to understand the significance of Flair Airlines‘ top routes, we must first establish the nature of the carrier to place it in the context of the modern Canadian aviation industry. Officially classified as an ultra-low-cost carrier, Flair operates a uniform fleet consisting solely of narrowbody twinjets from the Boeing
737 family. According to ch-aviation, this consists of 18 737 MAX 8s and two 737-800s.
Going forward, Flair plans to add to its sub-fleet of Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft (which are 5.2 years old on average compared to 14 for the 737-800s) with another eight examples. Given its status as an ultra-low-cost carrier, it will come as little surprise that Flair has configured both of its aircraft types with all-economy seating configurations. Data from aeroLOPA shows that these layouts feature 189 seats.
These aircraft will be well used on a variety of different domestic and international routes this month. Indeed, present scheduled data made available by Cirium, an aviation analytics company, shows that Flair has scheduled 2,175 flights this month, offering 411,075 seats and 519,717,303 available seat miles (ASMs). In terms of frequency, this is 20.4% higher than last December, when it had 1,807 flights.
One route to rule them all
When it comes to flight frequency (and also seat capacity, given Flair’s uniform seating configurations), one particular route stands out among Flair’s portfolio of aerial corridors. Specifically, the Canadian carrier has scheduled 82 flights in each direction this month between Calgary International Airport (YYC) and Vancouver International Airport (YVR), offering 15,498 seats each way.
Photo: Flair Airlines
These flights are spread throughout the month, with between one and four rotations a day. The days shortly before and after Christmas are particularly busy, with four round trips scheduled on the 19th, 21st, 26th, and 28th of the month. Contrastingly, the 3rd, 4th, 10th, and 11th saw just one service in each direction on the route. Meanwhile, the month’s remaining days had either two or three return trips.
Given that the route connects two of the largest cities in western Canada, it is unsurprising to see that Flair Airlines faces strong competition on the route between Calgary and Vancouver. Indeed, the 738 WestJet and 626 Air Canada flights scheduled on the corridor this month dwarf Flair’s 164 sectors. In fact, such is the value of the route that Air Canada even schedules the Boeing 787 on certain flights.
Photo: Flair Airlines
Nonetheless, Flair, which was recently named as the most punctual airline in Canada, is bullish about its prospects on the route, as evidenced by recent schedule changes. Specifically, the carrier has announced that, as part of a wider boost to its capacity between British Columbia and Alberta, it will be increasing the frequencies on its route between Calgary and Vancouver to five a day next spring.
Going long
The route from Calgary to Vancouver is a relatively short one, and, at just 428 miles (688.8 km) in length, Flair’s flights on the corridor typically have scheduled block times of just 90 minutes. Contrastingly, its next most frequently served route this month, which connects Vancouver with Toronto Pearson Airport (YYZ), is some 2,085 miles (3,355.5 km) long, with flights taking almost five hours.
Photo: Flair Airlines
Flair has scheduled 69 flights in each direction on this trans-Canadian corridor in December 2024, offering 13,041 seats in each direction. Given its much longer distance, this route comfortably outranks Vancouver-Calgary in terms of available seat miles, with 27,190,485 compared to 6,633,144. Flair typically operates two round trips a day, but the second half of the month has several days with three.
Once again, Flair’s primary competition on this route comes from Air Canada and WestJet, who respectively offer combined totals of 699 and 293 flights compared to Flair’s 138. The Canadian flag carrier deploys a huge variety of aircraft on this route, including the Airbus
A220, A319, A320, A321 and Boeing 737 MAX, 777, and 787 families. Meanwhile, WestJet favors Boeing 737 NG and MAX series jets.
Photo: Flair Airlines
However, unlike the route from Vancouver to Calgary, Flair also has a third competitor on this corridor, namely regional specialist Porter Airlines. This carrier has scheduled a combined 248 flights on this route in December 2024, equating to 124 in each direction at an average of four round trips per day. The airline’s aircraft of choice on this route is the Embraer
E195-E2, of which it is a major operator.
Further connections to British Columbia
Flair Airlines’ third and fourth most frequently served routes this December are an interesting pair that bears examining together. Both originate at its Edmonton International Airport (YEG) base, and serve airports located close to one another in British Columbia. The first of these is the aforementioned Vancouver International Airport, with 63 flights in each direction on the 504-mile (811.1 km) route.
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying
These frequencies vary between one and three per day, with the flights typically taking around 90 minutes. Once again, competition on this route comes from Air Canada and WestJet, with these Canadian carriers respectively offering combined totals of 462 and 389 flights on the corridor this month. However, unlike with the first two routes, Air Canada has no scheduled widebody operations on the route.
Not far behind in terms of operational frequency, and ranking fourth overall, is Flair’s route from Edmonton to Abbotsford International Airport (YXX). Also situated in British Columbia, this facility is located just 40 miles (65 km) away from central Vancouver, and serves as a useful alternative to Vancouver International Airport itself for passengers looking to access national parks and recreation areas.
Photo: Robin Guess | Shutterstock
All in all, Flair has scheduled 49 flights in each direction between Edmonton and Abbotsford this December, offering 9,261 seats and 4,463,802 available seat miles each way. Depending on the date in question, the route is served by either one or two round trips per day. While Flair faces competition from WestJet on this route, the latter carrier has fewer flights, with just 37 scheduled in each direction.
Abbotsford also has another link to Alberta
Moving onward to joint fifth place on the list (with the other fifth-placed corridor to be covered shortly as part of a wider group of routes), Flair also has a considerable presence in Abbotsford when it comes to flights to Calgary. Indeed, the Canadian carrier has scheduled 47 flights in each direction on this domestic route, which clocks in at just 398 miles (640.5 km), making it Flair’s fifth-shortest overall.
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying
Flair finds itself in a similar situation on this corridor in terms of the fact that it competes solely with Canadian operator WestJet on the route. However, WestJet’s presence is considerably larger in this instance, with 117 flights scheduled in each direction this December. As well as using Boeing 737 NG and MAX series jets for the bulk of these flights, WestJet also has six each way with Dash 8 turboprops.
International love
With a grand total of 951 flights scheduled to and from destinations outside of Canada in December 2024, almost half of Flair Airlines’ services (43.7%, to be exact) this month are of an international nature. The most frequently served of these connects Toronto Pearson with Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport (FLL) in the US federal state of Florida, with 47 flights in each direction.
Photo: Ross Howey Photo | Shutterstock
Once again, Flair faces competition from Air Canada, Porter Airlines, and WestJet on this route, with these four Canadian operators combining to offer 559 flights on the corridor this December. Flair Airlines will also serve Fort Lauderdale from Montréal Trudeau International Airport (YUL) this month, with a daily round trip amounting to 31 flights in each direction. Competition on the route comes from the likes of:
- Air Canada – 124 flights each way.
- Air Transat – 51 flights each way.
- Porter Airlines – 31 flights each way.
Flair Airlines’ other international route that averages one or more flights a day doesn’t t serve the US, but rather Cancún International (CUN) in southeastern Mexico. All in all, the carrier has scheduled 46 flights in each direction between there and its base at Toronto Pearson International, offering 8,694 seats and 14,040,810 available seat miles each way. The flights take four hours and 30 minutes.
Photo: Ross Howey Photo | Shutterstock
With Cancún being a popular leisure destination among Canadian tourists, particularly in the winter months when it offers much-needed sun and warmth, it should come as little surprise that Flair faces strong competition from this route. Indeed, as well as the usual Air Canada, Air Transat, and Porter Airlines, there are also flights from Sunwing Airlines to contend with. These carriers offer:
- Air Canada – 70 flights each way.
- Sunwing Airlines – 64 flights each way.
- Air Transat – 56 flights each way.
- WestJet – 53 flights each way.