Delta Air Lines ending service at Regina's airport after July

Travellers in Regina will no longer be able to take direct flights to the U.S. after this summer.

Delta Air Lines confirmed to News Talk Radio on Monday that it is pulling its flights from the Regina International Airport – it had been running one and twice daily flights to Minneapolis.

The last day of service for Delta flights will be July 31. The airline said the decision was made because yields were low in terms of revenue from the flight, passenger demand is falling in Regina, and the average fares that passengers are paying is lower because of the low Canadian dollar.

Delta was the last airline that was running direct flights to the U.S. from Regina. United Airlines pulled its service to Denver in January 2015, and pulled its service to Chicago in August 2014. That is, with the exception of West Jet’s direct flights to Las Vegas.

Now passengers who want to get to the U.S. will have to go through Canadian hubs like Calgary or Toronto first.

There are still international services flying out of Regina, but they’re going to places like Mexico, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic.

In January, budget airline NewLeaf announced flights to second-tier airports in Canada, including Regina, but had to temporarily suspend service because of regulation trouble with the Canadian Transportation Agency.

In April the CEO of the Regina International Airport said that overall ridership was down 0.5 per cent in 2015, but he considered that to be good, saying other airports hadn’t been faring the economic downturn so well. However, passenger counts over the U.S. border also dropped 32.6 per cent.

At the same time, Dick Graham said the airport was in talks to secure more international flights, especially to places in the U.S. He also predicted a two per cent passenger growth in 2016.

The Regina International Airport has not yet responded to a request for comment.