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Airlines pull back on operations

A Canadian North plane takes off. Brian Tattuinee photo
Full effects of the Canadian North and FIrst Air merger will take 18 to 24 months to put in place, the airlines announced Wednesday. Brian Tattuinee photo

Airlines have instituted schedule changes for travelers coming in and out of Yellowknife.

Air Canada has suspended 42 of its domestic routes, including Calgary-Yellowknife route from March 23 to April 30. The airline will also temporarily cancel its Yellowknife-Vancouver route from April 1 until April 30. Residents can currently still fly to Edmonton.

It will also suspend its international flights on March 31.

WestJet, meanwhile, has kept its Yellowknife routes as of Thursday, but hasn’t released any details of its plans to reduce domestic flights.

“We have not yet released details regarding the reduction of our domestic service which we have said is approximately 50 per cent of our capacity,” airline spokesperson Morgan Bell said Thursday.

The airline is planning to cancel all its international flights for 30 days starting on March 22.

It has also posted a list of virus-affected flights, none of which directly connected to Yellowknife. A significant portion, however, connected to Edmonton and Calgary.

Canadian North has temporarily reduced its Edmonton-Yellowknife route to a 1 per day flight schedule, compared to its regular 2 flights per day. Its flights to Inuvik will be similarly reduced.

The airline has also opted to prioritize freight, and minimize passenger levels.

For passengers, its trans-territorial route between Yellowknife, Rankin Inlet and Iqaluit, dropped from four times to two times weekly.

For smaller communities, flights will run every other day, unless there’s high demand.

“While there is no clear end in sight to these challenges, Canadian North will continue to provide essential passenger and cargo services to the people, communities and organizations we serve, regardless of these circumstances,” airline president and CEO Chris Avery wrote in a recent statement.