Desire to fly to and from smaller Canadian cities grows

With the rising trend of discount airlines coming to Canada, so has the desire to fly to and from smaller Canadian cities.

Smaller airports, like Hamilton International Airport, charge much less than their large neighbouring city counter parts and are buzzing with excitement over the arrival of Swoop.

Swoop is the latest discount carrier to make its way to Canada. The budget airline is a pet project of Westjet and is promising cheap flights for Canadians to various destinations across the continent.

With the decision to operate in Canada, discount airlines are looking for airports to partner with. As the big city airports tend to be most costly for consumers, there are looking towards smaller airports in Canadian cities.

"The emerging carriers are looking for partners that share the same philosophy and the same vision in growing the business opportunities," said chief executive of John C Munro Hamilton International Airport, Cathie Puckering.

The Hamilton airport saw an 80% increase in passengers last year, and have been striving to hit numbers last seen in 2003. Last year nearly 600,000 flew through the airport, however it has the capacity to handle over 3 million.

However, between Swoop getting underway, and the announcement of Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA entering Canada and offering direct service to Dublin, things are looking up for Hamilton International.

“It’s been a crazy week,” said Puckering.