Canadian North new official airline of the CFL
“We’re delighted to be delivering the boys to their games”
A Canadian North jet takes off from Rankin Inlet last month. Canadian North is now the official airline of the Canadian Football League. (PHOTO BY SARAH ROGERS)
Canadian North is the new official airline of the Canadian Football League, the airline announced July 9.
A new three-year agreement will strengthen an existing relationship between the CFL and Canadian North, which already flies the league’s Alberta teams, the Edmonton Eskimos and Calgary Stampeders. The airline has also in the past provided charters for the remaining CFL teams.
Under the new partnership, Canadian North will fly the league’s east and west division champions to the 102nd edition of the Grey Cup — the CFL’s championship title — being hosted in Vancouver this November.
“There is nothing more Canadian than the CFL and we are excited to be partnering with both the league and the Grey Cup,” said Steve Hankirk, president of Canadian North, in a July 9 release.
“We’re thrilled to broaden our relationship with the CFL and believe this creates opportunities for more teams to charter with Canadian North.”
On Twitter, a July 9 tweet from Canadian North to the CFL players’ association said “We’re delighted to be delivering the boys to their games.”
The CFL’s commissioner Mark Cohon called the airline “a great fit for our league.”
Canadian North airlines just launched a direct flight between Iqaluit, Halifax, N.S. and St. John’s, Nfld. that runs every Friday from until September.
The airline said it would consider expanding the number of flights or extending the season for availability of the 136-seat, Iqaluit-Halifax passenger flight, depending on demand for the service.
The airline is also in the midst of discussions with fellow northern airline First Air about a possible merger later this year.
Canadian North’s parent company, Norterra, is now owned by the Inuvialuit Development Corp., following a deal last March in which the Nunasi Corp. transferred its 50 per cent ownership share in the company to the Inuvialuit.
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