Ashley Messier builds hockey legacy with sights on PWHL, Olympics
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Mark Messier is her distant cousin, but this Sask. hockey product is carving her own path.
Come the end of the November, flights from abroad will be able to land again at John. G. Diefenbaker International Airport in Saskatoon.
Transport Canada announced on Tuesday that Saskatoon and Regina would be among eight airports allowed to accept international flights on Nov. 30.
“We’re absolutely thrilled,” Saskatoon Airport CEO Stephen Maybury said Wednesday. “We get to welcome visitors back to our province and prompt economic recovery of this very important market for our community.”
The positive news came with a word of caution for air travellers eager to see service back to where it was before the pandemic. Maybury said many airlines have not made a commitment to resuming service to the Bridge City.
“We’ll be speaking to our airline partners about their previous plans and what they could materialize over the shortest term to be ready for that date,” he said.
“We’re hearing different reports on timing of recovery. Still, you see the larger carriers looking at the 2023-24 for a full resumption.”
Maybury said roughly 15 per cent of the airport’s annual business comes from international flights. That number increases to 40 per cent during peak times.
Sunwing announced in June the resumption of direct flights to tropical destinations starting in December from both Regina and Saskatoon.
However, U.S.-based Delta Airlines has yet to make a commitment about resuming service to Saskatoon.
“I wouldn’t say it’s certain. I would say it’s being actively marketed and developed by this airport with the help of our community in presenting ongoing business cases,” said Maybury.
“Certainly now that the market has opened up, it changed the dynamic of the conversation and we’ll following up on that.”
Delta suspended service to Saskatoon in May 2020, eliminating the direct flight from Minneapolis.