Officials at the Region of Waterloo International Airport say they’re not happy about WestJet’s decision to stop offering flights to and from Orlando.
“Obviously it’s not a great day whenever there’s any suspension of service,” airport general manager Chris Wood said in an interview.
The flights, which were offered once a week during the winter months only, began in 2015.
In a statement to CTV News, a WestJet spokesperson said the decision was made because of a lack of passengers using the service.
“We base our service in part on supply and demand and review our schedule and network on a regular basis to ensure we are meeting guests’ needs while maintaining profitable flying on behalf of our shareholders,” Lauren Stewart wrote.
While the Orlando flights have been scrapped, there will actually be more WestJet planes flying into and out of the airport on a weekly basis.
Wood says the airline will be bringing back its Thursday flights to and from Calgary, which had recently been suspended, and introducing Saturday service to and from Calgary for the first time.
Additionally, he and other airport officials are in talks with what Wood describes as “airlines and soon-to-be airlines” about potentially starting up operations in Waterloo Region.
Coun. Tom Galloway, who chairs the regional committee that oversees the airport, says he would like to see more scheduled passenger flights.
He sees some hope in various plans for new, low-cost airlines, some of which have indicated that they could be ready to start service next summer.
“They certainly are looking at our airport very seriously,” he said.
With reporting by Maleeha Sheikh
