July 1 Start Date For Air Canada Service To Calgary, Toronto
Nanaimo Airport’s award winning new terminal building
NANAIMO – Direct Air Canada flights from Nanaimo Airport and Toronto’s Pearson International Airport are scheduled to resume on a limited basis in July.
“Air Canada is a valued partner that supported Nanaimo Airport during the pandemic and continues to support us during reopening,” says Dave Devana, President and CEO of Nanaimo Airport Commission. “We share a commitment to safety and have comprehensive plans to ensure passengers can travel safely while reconnecting with family and friends.”
The non-stop flights start July 4, after BC’s July 1 planned reopening date for domestic travel within Canada. One flight a week is scheduled initially, but the schedule may expand in August depending on the reopening plans and success of the vaccination programs in Canada.
Air Canada will also resume its service to Calgary starting July 1, with five flights planned per week. The airline’s Nanaimo services will return to all three airports it served in the summer of 2019: Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto.
“With Canada’s ongoing vaccine roll-out acceleration together with various provincial governments’ reopening plans that include travel, this summer is looking brighter,” notes Mark Galardo, Senior Vice President, Network Planning and Revenue Management at Air Canada. “As customers are ready to travel, Air Canada is taking a leadership position to support our partners in Canada’s tourism and hospitality sector with service to 50 destinations from coast to coast, the re-start of regional services and new, non-stop flights.
“We are thrilled to resume our non-stop flights from Nanaimo to both Toronto and to Calgary, offering additional choices to and from Vancouver Island.”
Travelers on the Nanaimo-Toronto route will fly aboard an Air Canada mainline narrow-body aircraft. The flight signals the restart of air travel and the domestic tourism and hospitality sectors on Vancouver Island.
“The direct flight to Toronto shows that Air Canada has a vested interest in Nanaimo Airport by putting this route on our schedule as we prudently look to reopen our economy,” Devana says.
Nanaimo Airport will resume its role as the central Island’s gateway, with re-connecting flights for domestic destinations, business markets and employment opportunities.
“Air access to Vancouver Island is a critical component for the long-term recovery of the tourism industry in our region,” says Anthony Everett, President and CEO of Tourism Vancouver Island. “It is a positive sign to see a major carrier making this investment in the Mid-Island as the restart of travel begins.”
Nanaimo Airport Commission has undertaken a $28.8-million infrastructure capital plan over the next five years will enhance airport infrastructure to provide additional route development options, including seasonal sun destinations.
The airport will welcome passengers back to its award-winning terminal building. The terminal expansion project won the Community Institutional Award of Excellence in the 2021 Vancouver Island Real Estate Board Commercial Building Awards.
The terminal earlier won an Illuminating Engineering Society award for interior lighting design.