Flights Begin Returning In Saint John On Tuesday

Flights return to the Saint John Airport this week for the first time since mid-January.

An Air Canada flight is set to arrive Tuesday night from Montreal followed by a departure to that city Wednesday morning.

Greg Hierlihy, interim president and CEO of the airport, said there will initially be three flights a week to Montreal and four departures to Toronto.

“Right now in terms of the schedule we have for August, it looks like we’ll have daily service to Montreal and twice a day to Toronto,” Hierlihy said.

Low-discount carrier Flair Airlines is expected to begin twice-weekly service to Toronto on Saturday.

In terms of preparing for more flights and people, the airport runways have been maintained the whole time, he said.

“With the airlines themselves, we have to bring back their staff and get trained, make sure that they have their certifications and that sort of thing up to date, trained on the latest procedures. Air Canada has been in the building the last couple of weeks doing that,” Hierlihy said.

Menzies Aviation, the ground handling crew for Flair and PAL airlines, has also conducted staff training.

As for the COVID testing program at Moncton’s airport, Hierlihy said they are monitoring interest in the pilot project.

The Greater Moncton Roméo LeBlanc International Airport announced recently it will offer on-site Covid-19 testing through a pilot project with Distribution Ad Valorem and Soins Proxyma Care.