EDMONTON — Flair Airlines says it has “immediate plans to expand its services both in frequency and reach” and says the final step in that plan is fleet renewal and expansion.

The ultra-low-cost carrier, which bills itself as “Canada’s only independent, fully operational low cost airline”, currently operates a fleet of seven all-Economy class Boeing 737s to eight cities across Canada.

Flair re-launched from a charter operator to a scheduled low cost airline in 2017.

The airline says “Canada has one of the highest costs for air travel in the world and that’s a problem Flair intends to fix. Flair has caused significant passenger growth in Canada and fare reductions of up to 40% on the routes it serves. Even passengers travelling on other airlines benefit from the competitive fares that appear only because Flair is in the market.”

The company says it flew close to one million passengers in 2019, “with many more to do so in 2020.”

Flair says it is seeking expressions of interest from lessors with available Boeing 737 aircraft for delivery in early 2020.

Less than a year ago, in February 2019 Flair suspended its flights to Florida and California just months after expanding to the U.S. Citing “disappointing load factors”, Flair called an abrupt halt to service from Edmonton, Winnipeg and Toronto to destinations including Miami, Tampa Bay and Palm Springs.

With file from The Canadian Press