Canadian North cuts more flights on Iqaluit to Ottawa route this winter

Canadian North has delivered more bad news to customers hoping to fly with the airline this winter, announcing the cancellation of additional flights on its Ottawa-Iqaluit codeshare route.

The northern airline cancelled Ottawa to Iqaluit flights for an additional 11 days in December, citing non-peak travel days. On these days a single codeshare First Air flight will service the route.

Last week Canadian North informed customers that, due to planned maintenance, the Ottawa to Iqaluit codeshare route will be served by a single daily flight operated by First Air from Jan. 5 to Feb. 28, 2017.

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"Because we typically see a substantial drop in traffic each year in January and February, we've confirmed that there will be more than enough capacity to serve customers," states an email to CBC from Canadian North's Kelly Lewis.

Affected passengers already booked to travel on these dates will be automatically re-booked on the First Air operated flights says the airline.

Down two aircraft

The airline says it will be down two aircraft from Dec. 13 to February 2017. One 737-200 aircraft is out of service for scheduled maintenance and one of Canadian North's 737-300 is being configured into a 737-300 Combi which allows the aircraft to be used to transport passengers as well as cargo as needed.

The new Canadian North 737-300 Combi is expected to be in service on the Ottawa to Iqaluit route in March.

"We will closely monitor our bookings to ensure that there is sufficient capacity in place to handle demand," states Lewis.