Air North cancels winter flights between Whitehorse, Yellowknife and Toronto | CBC News

Air North has cancelled winter flights between Yellowknife, Whitehorse, and Toronto, saying the route wasn’t busy enough to cover costs.

The company said the cancellations affect flights scheduled from Feb. 13 to May 1, 2024.

Ben Ryan, chief commercial officer with Air North, said there wasn’t enough demand for the flights.

“Our flights generally were looking like they would end up probably 60 per cent full, which is just not full enough to justify operating in the winter, especially with the potential high cost of de-icing that can occur during winter months,” Ryan said.

“We think it’s the necessary move, and we felt that the timing was ideal to just make the decision swiftly [Wednesday] so that people had a chance to rebook during the New Year’s spring sale, or New Year sales, that are going on right now.”

Anyone who’s booked a seat on one of the cancelled flights can get a full refund from Air North, or rebook the flight for a date between May 7 and Sept. 18.

Alternatively, those who can’t change their travel plans can be rebooked for a flight to another one of Air North’s destinations “via a guaranteed $99 connector fare.”

Summer flights between the three destinations will run as planned, Air North said in a statement.