February 23, 2000
(Tourism, Culture and Recreation)

New air schedules contain some positives and some negatives for Newfoundland and Labrador

Tourism, Culture and Recreation Minister Charles Furey today commented on the impact of airline schedules released by Air Canada and charter airlines for the province�s 2000 tourism season.

Mr. Furey said: "After examining flight data from Air Canada and the charter airlines, there are some positive developments for the province, as well as some concerns. For the tourism industry province-wide, it looks like the capacity to get people in and out of the province will be about the same as last year, but getting around inside the province may be more difficult."

"The good news is that on the Air Canada, Air Nova and Canadian system, we will see a gain of 3 per cent in capacity, or 220 seats per week, from Halifax, Montreal and Toronto into St. John�s for the 2000 tourism season, even taking into account the loss of Inter-Canadien. Nonetheless, to meet the expected 8 to 10 per cent growth in traffic anticipated by growth in tourism and other industries this year, more capacity has to come from somewhere."

Minister Furey said that some of the extra capacity will be provided by the charter airlines. The latest schedules of the charter airlines show an increase of 390 seats per week from outside the province.

A concern for the tourism industry will be the reduced service from Halifax to Deer Lake, Stephenville and Gander: "This is of great concern to us. Certainly there has been a reduction in capacity over 1999. However, it is unclear to government whether the capacity now matches the actual level of usage or whether tourists who want to fly directly to these parts of the province will be left stranded. With the Vikings 1000 celebrations to start soon, the government will work closely with Air Canada and other carriers to monitor the demand for service and attempt to raise capacity where needed."

Inside the province the level of service has also been reduced, particularly to Labrador. This is a disappointing development and the government will be encouraging Air Canada as well as competitor airlines to fill the gaps which this drop in service will create.

"Overall," said Mr. Furey, "the higher level of frequency and direct flights from the Toronto and Montreal markets is a boost for the province as a tourism destination. It will be more convenient than ever to get to the province from elsewhere. However, more capacity will be needed to keep the growth trend in the industry alive."

Media contact: Mary MacNab, Communications, (709) 729-0928, or (709) 682-0366.

2000 02 23 10:20 p.m.