Come fly with me: First Air sets Xmas passenger record

First Air expects to carry a record-setting 6,126 passengers this week. The airline says passengers seeking seats on its Christmas inter-community schedule should book early and that they expect Dec. 19, the last Friday before Christmas, will be their busiest day. (FILE PHOTO)

First Air will put on extra flights this Christmas season to handle a record-setting surge in passenger demand, the airline said Dec. 15.

“At this busy time, the airline has added extra capacity on some key routes such as Iqaluit-Ottawa, Yellowknife-Edmonton and Kuujjuaq-Montreal,” the airline said in a news release.

That’s because First Air, owned by Nunavik’s Makivik Corp., expects to carry 6,126 passengers this week, a big increase over last year, the airline said.

“Demand tends to be higher than capacity and this year even flights surrounding the predicted busy days are filling up, despite additional scheduled flights,” First Air said.

To handle all those people who want to travel south for last-minute shopping or to spend time with family and friends, the airline will put on double daily flights on some routes.

And on inter-community flights, which are operating on a special Christmas schedule, First Air urges travellers to book early.

“The inter-community service is very popular, which results in a limited number of seats on some of these flights, so book quickly to avoid disappointment,” First Air said.

They expect that Dec. 19, the last Friday before Christmas, will prove to be their busiest day.

First Air is likely to welcome the extra cargo and passenger revenue they’ll take in this season.

This past October, Bert van der Stege, First Air’s commercial vice president, told the Economic Club in Ottawa that the northern airline industry is not economically viable, because of high operating costs and poor infrastructure.

In apparent cost-saving moves, First Air bowed out of the annual charity ball in Iqaluit and eliminated a money-losing scheduled service to Naujaat.

First Air and its rival, Canadian North, had hoped to cut their losses and improve efficiencies by merging.

But after about six months of talks, that merger deal died.