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The Regina Airport (YQR) recently partnered with WestJet to increase the number of domestic and international flight offerings, including regular winter service to Vancouver, Toronto, and Edmonton.
“We're really proud to say this, but our airport has actually led the way for the province with a 32 per cent year-over-year winter increase to seats,” James Bogusz, CEO of the Regina Airport Authority, told Discover Moose Jaw News. “In terms of actual flying, what this represents is WestJet will be going head-to-head with Air Canada, who typically was the only carrier providing year-round service to major markets like Vancouver and Toronto.
The extra seats and flight frequency represent a 27 per cent increase to WestJet’s Saskatchewan service routes.
“Vancouver this winter will be the first time in our history that we’ve had WestJet fly a daily service to Vancouver in the wintertime. ... Toronto is back — they stopped flying that in 2019 — so they’re back to seven days a week. We’re going to have 10 frequencies a week to Edmonton in the winter ... and seven days a week to Winnipeg again, so that’s very exciting for us.”
Bogusz said news of the new flight availabilities adds on to the YQR accomplishment on April 28, when seven-day-a-week flights to Minneapolis became available.
“You can now travel right from your home airport, fly to Minneapolis and you can connect to over 70 American cities on the Delta Airlines network.”
Winter flights options are also increasing to destinations such as Cancun and Puerto Vallarta in Mexico, and to Phoenix, Orlando, and Las Vegas in the US.
Moose Jaw represents about eight to 10 per cent of the market share of YQR. Bogusz said the Regina Airport Authority thinks of themselves as a regional airport and that he enjoys close ties to the Notorious City.
“We feel like we’re a big part of your community,” Bogusz added. “When I visit the city and I come and talk with residents, talk with the business community, they’re super excited about what we’re doing here in Regina, and we ask their opinions, and we appreciate their opinions.”
Moose Jaw has the right to nominate a board member to the Regina Airport Authority board. Jessica McNaughton is the current Moose Jaw representative to YQR.