International flights returning to London airport this fall says CEO

From CBC News 🔗 link to source story • thanks to CW

Domestic flights will be ramping up in the coming months as well

James Chaarani · CBC · March 01, 2022

As of Tuesday, London airport has received its international designation. (James Chaarani/CBC)

The London International Airport will once again live up to its name. That’s according to president and CEO Scott McFadzean, who said that starting this fall they’ll be offering many of the same pre-pandemic international routes again, after getting the green light, as of Tuesday, from the federal government to do so. 

McFadzean explained that it takes time to plan these routes, so Londoners won’t see international flights to sunny destinations this winter. Come fall though, people can book flights to places like Cuba, Mexico, Orlando, Las Vegas, Mexico and Dominican Republic. 

“I can say that the airlines are being cautiously optimistic about the reduction in restrictions and the return to a post-pandemic normal,” said McFadzean. “But certainly, we’re not out of the woods yet, and they’re being a bit cautious with their scheduling and their commitments at this point.”

President and CEO of London airport has been on the job for about a month. (James Chaarani/CBC)

Londoners have been unable to take international flights from the city’s airport since the onset of the pandemic. The federal government had restricted the number of airports that can accept travelers arriving from other countries, but they’ve slowly been dropping those measures.  

McFadzean doesn’t expect the international designation to be reversed a second time, but says this with the caveat that long-term predictions during the pandemic can be tricky. 

More domestic flights

McFadzean said that they’ll also be ramping up their domestic services. 

“As we approach May and June, we’re going to see increased levels of service on the Toronto routes,” he explained. These will be operated by WestJet and Air Canada. 

“We’ll see WestJet increasing their Calgary service to a couple of flights a day direct to Calgary, and then we’ll see the return of Swoop beginning June 1st. With that, four times a week to Edmonton.”

McFadzean has been in the job for about a month, succeeding the former head of London airport, Mike Seabrook.