Jack Santerre believes things are moving in the right direction at Jack Garland Airport as the airport which was closed for the majority of 2020 when Air Canada pulled out due to the pandemic.
Things have been getting better over the summer after Air Canada returned to YYB in July.
"The North Bay Jack Garland Airport is thankful for our Region’s continued support as the Airport sees a steady return of daily scheduled passenger traffic since Air Canada resumed flights in early July," Santerre told BayToday.
"Bearskin Airlines’ traffic numbers also continue to increase as the province opens up for business."
See related: Business community hopes Air Canada is here to stay
Santerre points out that Bearskin Airlines will be adding additional flights to their fall schedule.
Air Canada started gradually in North Bay with three flights a week on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. By late July that schedule was increased to one flight per day, then two per day flights are scheduled for the fall.
However, Santerre says improvements are still needed.
"This being said the aviation industry, as a whole, still has a long way to go before we reach pre-COVID-19 travel numbers in Canada."
Jack Garland Airport has had a lot of ups and downs the past five years aside from COVID-19.
Back in 2017, Porter Airlines pulled out of North Bay after the discount passenger airline which flies out of Toronto's Billy Bishop Airport in downtown Toronto first took flight out of the North Bay airport in October of 2015 when the City and Porter Airlines initially agreed to a five-year commitment.
