Canada’s newest airline takes flight out of Kamloops

Early Saturday, and everything was running smoothly for NewLeaf Travel’s first flight into Fulton Field, during the company’s first week of operation.

“The response has been overwhelming,” Newleaf President and CEO Jim Young told CFJC at the airport, Saturday morning. “We’ve had a lot of very full airplanes with a lot of very happy people.”

The first plane into Kamloops arrived on time. There was cake for passengers waiting at the gate.

Amanda Chan was one of those passengers waiting for the first flight. She was excited to be one of the first to fly direct to Victoria.

“I’m really excited. It’s nice to have have direct flights to Victoria, and skip the ferry” Chan said. “The fly times are also really convenient – Saturday’s and Wednesday’s – so for me, it was cost effective and really just easy to book.”

But the excitement was tempered; a mechanical issue with the plane caused a bit of a wait, while NewLeaf staff and YKA ground crews looked for a remedy.

Young issued a statement regarding the delay that said, “A delay in service is something we hope never happens. Unfortunately, this did occur for our outbound flight from Kamloops to Victoria on Saturday. We apologize to our passengers who experienced the delay. We can assure though, that within a short period of time there were plans activated that resolved the issue.”

Despite the delay, Young is confident Canadians will take advantage of the service Newleaf provides

“We sell you a seat and a seatbelt for a very low fare,” Young explained. “You can add what you want after that… If you want to have something to eat, if you want to check a bag, or carry something on there’s an extra fee for that. That is how we keep the fares low, we run a simple operation.”

Time will tell if the passengers feel that confidence, too.

by Adam Donnelly

Canada’s newest airline takes flight out of Kamloops

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