Waterloo Region says arrival of Flair Airlines has boosted local air traffic

The exterior of the Region of Waterloo International Airport in Breslau.

The Region of Waterloo is crediting Flair Airlines with a "record-breaking" increase in local passenger traffic.

Regional officials said 171,828 people travelled through the Region of Waterloo International Airport in 2021, representing a 245 per cent boost over the previous year.

The region added that was a direct result of Flair Airlines.

The carrier currently offers nine non-stop destinations out of Waterloo Region: Calgary, Edmonton, Halifax, Vancouver, Victoria and Winnipeg, along with Cancun, Mexico and Fort Lauderdale and Orlando, Florida. Three new destinations will be added in June 2022: Charlottetown, Deer Lake and Saint John, New Brunswick.

The airport also pointed to the success of its flight training school.

“YKF is the busiest general aviation airport in Ontario. Flight training has always accounted for over half of our aircraft movements,” said Chris Wood, the airport's general manager, in a media release. “We are the proud home of the Waterloo Wellington Flight Centre, one of Canada’s largest professional flight training schools. General aviation built this airport and will continue to thrive as we grow.”

A planned expansion at the airport is currently underway and is expected to be complete in 2023.

According to Statistics Canada, The Region of Waterloo International Airport was also ranked as the sixth busiest Canadian airport with 133,293 aircraft movements in 2021. The region said that was a result of the pandemic which grounded most commercial flights. The airport has previously been ranked the 15th or 16th busiest airport in Canada.