Edmonton will be the base of operations
Flair Airlines is moving its operations base from Kelowna to Edmonton.
Flair's Executive Chairman, David Tait explained Kelowna would not be able to keep pace with the growth of the company, “Edmonton brings to us, with a city of over a million (people), an airport with more jet ways and more runways…it’s really just about the ability to scale up the airline going forward, which we knew we couldn’t do out of Kelowna as a major hub.”
It also puts Flair’s operations in the lap of its busiest customer base. Just last week the low cost carrier doubled its flights out of the Alberta capital, and 65% of Flair's flights either fly into, or out of Edmonton now. “The demographics of the market as well are very different. We’re not just looking at a ‘visiting friends and relatives’ or ‘backpacker’ kind of traffic. We’re looking to have small businessmen fly with us as well. The spread of industry, and the whole make-up of the Edmonton area is really what we need to grow the area the way we intend to,” said Tait.
Tait says Flair doesn't intend to eliminate any Kelowna flights, and hinted at upcoming additions, including US flights.
Flair employs close to 50 workers in Kelowna that now have a tough choice to make. Tait said management has just begun the process of discussing their options. “We’ll do the right thing by them if they want to move (to the Edmonton office), we’ll take care of it. If they want early retirement, or whatever, we’ll take care of that.”
