New flight options for Labrador passengers heading to Newfoundland

For travelers looking to fly between Newfoundland and Labrador, there are now a few more options when booking a ticket.

• Air Labrador to fly between Newfoundland and Labrador

Both Air Labrador and Innu Mikun Airlines have launched new flights, with a focus on their Indigenous customers.

Air Labrador flights to Newfoundland stopped in April 2009 due to economic challenges, but the airline's president and CEO Philip Earle says new, Aboriginal ownership has made all the difference.

The Nunatsiavut Group of Companies became majority owners in 2013, making land claim beneficiariesthe shareholders of the company. Earle said the shareholders asked for a flight to St. John's.

"We were happy to do that, both from a business side first, because there's a business case to be made for it, but secondly to allow our ownership to have convenient connections to St. John's, Newfoundland, and to Deer Lake and beyond," he said.

The new daily flight will leave Happy Valley-Goose Bay in the morning, with stops in St. John's and Deer Lake before returning to Goose Bay. An evening flight will also travel between Happy Valley-Goose Bay and St. John's.

The Air Labrador route will be serviced by a Beechcraft 1900 plane with room for 18 passengers.

Flights serving north coast

Passengers who live further north have more travel options as well.

Innu Mikun Airlines began early morning flights from Nain and Natuashish to Goose Bay on Monday.

The new flights will allow passengers to connect with a Provincial Airlinesmorning flight to St Johns.

"It's an exciting announcement," said Stephen Dinn, vice president of business development for InnuMikunAirlines.

"We're getting a lot of positive commentary. I think it's a welcome announcement for people on the north coast and of course, we have the full support of our Innu partners, so its been really good."

Competition for travellers

Earle said he believesthere is enough demand to support the new flights.

"There's going to be stiff competition, but there's a lot of travel between Newfoundland and Labrador," he said.

"Right now we feel that we should get decent numbers of air travellers."

Earle said Tuesday's first flight was more than 80 per cent full and he is hopeful for the future.

For Innu Mikun,the decision was all about timing.

"The timeline for us was obviously seasonal and what's the right time of year to do that and it happened to coincide quite nicely with our brand re-launch," Dinn said. "It was a great package for us to relaunch."