Flair Airlines won't fly to Ottawa from Charlottetown this summer

Flair Airlines will not be resuming direct flights between Charlottetown and Ottawa this summer, according to the P.E.I. airport's CEO.

The ultra-low cost carrier recently informed Charlottetown Airport that it will eliminate its planned thrice-weekly service from Ottawa to the Island, which was initially scheduled to start in June, said the CEO of the Charlottetown Airport Authority, Doug Newson.

"Bookings were encouraging, as far as I was told by Flair, but they just don't have the aircraft time to complete everything they had planned this summer," he said.

"Hopefully, they will bring it back next summer."

Service to Toronto and Kitchener-Waterloo out of Charlottetown will be operating as scheduled, Newson said. Service to Toronto will be three times weekly and flights will go to the other Ontario city twice weekly.

Newson noted that passengers looking to travel directly from P.E.I. to Ottawa this summer can fly with Porter Airlines, which will launch non-stop service to Ottawa out of Charlottetown May 17.

"They're actually going to offer two flights a day this summer, which is a nice little surprise and great news for travelers as well," he said.

That means Porter Airlines will be operating 14 flights a week to Ottawa in the peak summer period.

Edmonton-based Flair, which launched in 2017, says on its website that it travels to more than 35 Canadian and North American destinations.