Swoop is already adding more flights between Hamilton and other Canadian cities

Less than two months after it announced low-cost flights out of Hamilton, Swoop has added a fourth plane.

The low-cost WestJet carrier said Thursday that it would add another 13 weekly flights out of Hamilton during the summer season, in addition to the 24 announced in February. That nearly doubles the flights from Hamilton to Edmonton and Hamilton to Abbotsford, B.C., and offer daily service to Halifax and Winnipeg.

"We are thrilled that after only seven weeks on the market, Swoop is already increasing frequency out of Hamilton International," said Cathie Puckering, new CEO of the John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport.

"Last year, 599,146 passengers flew to and from Hamilton International and we are excited about the growth we are already seeing in 2018."

Swoop said in February that it would fly six times a week between Hamilton and Halifax, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Abbotsford starting June 20. The new, increased service will run from Aug. 16 to Oct. 27.  

The Hamilton-to-Abbotsford schedule will increase from Aug. 16 to Sept. 5, reverting to six weekly flights from Sept. 6 to Oct. 27.

The flights are on Boeing 737-800 aircraft. Customers pay for a seat and one personal item. It costs more to check bags, watch movies, use Wi-Fi and have more leg room. Those extras cost about twice as much they do on regular WestJet flights.

The announcement comes as part of a long-awaited boom in passenger traffic in Hamilton.

For years, city councillors lamented that TradePort, the company that manages the airport, hadn't fulfilled a commitment to increase passenger numbers.

Now Enerjet and Flair Air (formerly NewLeaf) fly out of Hamilton, and Jetlines aims to launch next year.

Passenger numbers increased 80 per cent in 2017, or 599,146 trips compared to 333,368 in 2016.