FlyGTA flights suspended until spring 2021

The City of Kingston has announced that the final FlyGTA flight of the year has landed at the Kingston Airport.

According to a release from the City, the final FlyGTA flight of 2020 landed in Kingston on Thursday, Dec. 10, 2020. However, the partnership between the City and the Toronto-based air carrier will continue in 2021.

“As COVID-19 restrictions tighten in many parts of Ontario, the City and FlyGTA came to a mutual decision to pause service with the goal of restarting in spring 2021,” said Airport Manager Aron Winterstein in a statement.

“When flight service resumes, there will be a renewed focus on Eastern Ontario destination packages and increased service.”

The City of Kingston entered into its agreement with FlyGTA in the fall of 2020 after Air Canada cancelled its regional flight service at airports across Canada. According to the City, introducing a new air carrier to Kingston was a “massive undertaking that paid off for both parties.”

“While the loss of Air Canada daily flight service was disappointing, it presented the opportunity to accelerate talks with other carriers and to provide the community with affordable and safe flight service through FlyGTA,” said Winterstein.

And the City plans to have more carriers serving the airport. Earlier this week, the City posted a Request for Information on Biddingo.com, inviting air carriers to submit proposals about what they might bring to the regional Eastern Ontario market. The Request for Information places priority on creating an east-west network, the City said.

“We have a beautiful facility. We have competitive rates. We have a wide and interested service area, ideally situated between Toronto and Ottawa. When the world is ready for it, we plan to have the flight service Kingstonians want and deserve to see,” Winterstein said. The City’s $16.1 million expansion of Kingston’s Norman Rogers Airport was completed in 2018.