NewLeaf to resume booking super low-cost air travel

KELOWNA – NewLeaf Travel Company isn’t an airline and can resume selling ultra low-cost air travel, the Canadian Transportation Agency says.

NewLeaf is trumpeting the decision and new clarity around the term 'reseller'. The agency had contended NewLeaf was acting as an airline and needed a license to operate.

“This is a victory for Canadian travellers,” NewLeaf CEO Jim Young says in a press release. “The introduction of the distinctive term ‘reseller’ in airline regulation not only clarifies the role of NewLeaf in the travel marketplace, but also allows for innovation and consumer choice, while maintaining consumer protections."

According to the Canadian Press, Tuesday’s decision means the company can begin adding to the 4,000 or so flights it booked during the one week it offered online ticket sales before suspending operations in January.

Kelowna-based Flair Airlines, which is licensed, will serve as carrier with flights from Kelowna International Airport and John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport to Abbottsford, Halifax, Regina, Saskatoon and Winnipeg.

One-way flights for as low as $89, with all fees and taxes in, are the fledlging airline’s big promise and Young says bookings will resume in the next few weeks.

NewLeaf refunded all the tickets purchased in early January but promises bookings will open again 'in the very near future'.

To contact a reporter for this story, email John McDonald at jmcdonald@infonews.ca or call 250-808-0143. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.