Lynx Air is to start flying to Montreal during the summer season—becoming its 15th destination in North America—while Air Transat is also expanding service from the Canadian city.
Two domestic routes are being launched by Canadian ULCC Lynx, connecting Montreal-Trudeau International Airport (YUL) to both Calgary International Airport (YYC) and St. John’s International Airport (YYT). The first flights will start on June 5 and frequencies will range from two to four services per week.
“While Montreal is a very popular destination, it is currently under-served by low-cost carriers, and Lynx aims to change that,” Lynx CEO Merren McArthur said.
Data provided by OAG Schedules Analyser shows that Lynx will face direct competition on both routes being launched, with Air Canada and WestJet serving Calgary 19X-weekly and 5X-weekly at the present time, while Air Canada also offers a double-daily St. John’s service.
Lynx will become the second domestic LCC to serve Montreal alongside Flair Airlines. The airport also receives low-cost service from U.S. leisure airline Sun Country.
For the week commencing March 6, OAG figures show that LCCs make up just 1.6% of the total seat capacity offered from YUL. Air Canada is the airport’s largest airline with about 57.4% of the market.
Stéphane Lapierre, VP of airport operations and air services development at Aéroports de Montréal, said Lynx’s entry would make a “great contribution to the development of domestic air services” at YUL.
Alongside the Lynx expansion, Air Transat has also confirmed that it plans to offer nonstop year-round flights between Montreal and Lyon in France. The airline already flies to Lyon-Saint Exupéry Airport (LYS) up to seven times per week during the summer season and will continue the route during the winter with 3X-weekly frequencies using Airbus A321LRs.
“Route annualizations are part of our development strategy and, incidentally, our A321LR fleet is the best tool to meet this goal,” Air Transat chief revenue officer Michèle Barre said. “We are delighted to meet the growing demand between Canada and France, which will benefit winter sports enthusiasts, business travelers and the expat community alike."
Air Transat serves eight French cities and Lyon will become its second year-round destination alongside Paris. The 5,861-km (3,165-nm) YUL-LYS sector is currently served by Air Canada four times per week using A330-300s, which will run until April 11. Air Transat will resume flights to Lyon on May 18, initially operating 5X-weekly.
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