Iqaluit, Rankin Inlet flights on the rise Canadian North sets stage to reduce service; Arctic Fresh Projects launches routes

By Derek Neary Northern News Services

Flight activity in Iqaluit was on the upswing in 2022 with approximately 17,494 take offs and landings.

That’s an increase of 7.4 per cent from the 16,292 aircraft movements recorded in 2021. The airline industry appears to be edging closer to the 18,711 take offs and landings logged in the Nunavut capital in 2019, prior to the Covid-19 pandemic.

A continued rebound was also evident in Rankin Inlet, where approximately 11,243 take offs and landings occurred in 2022, a 6.8 per cent improvement on 10,523 aircraft movements a year earlier. The 2022 figure is not far removed from the 11,828 take offs and landings that happened in Rankin Inlet in 2019, before the pandemic.

Statistics Canada does not have full data for all of the territory’s airports.

Canadian North terms cause alarm

In April, the Government of Canada permitted Canadian North to cut service to Northern communities, including Nunavut, in light of financial difficulties, but the government made the airline commit to retaining at least one flight per week to each community. Some of Nunavut’s 25 communities are not served by other airlines, although they were prior to the merger between Canadian North and First Air in 2019.

The terms of the new agreement also allow the airline to increase fares and cargo rates by up to 25 per cent each year.

Nunavut Senator Dennis Patterson and Nunavut MP Lori Idlout were both critical of the development.

“People across Nunavut and the Northwest

Territories are rightfully concerned about the cost of travel in the North,” Idlout stated. “After speaking with the company and expressing my concerns, I’m hopeful that Northerners won’t see an increase in their costs, but I will continue to keep a close eye to ensure prices and services are fair.”

If passenger loads on any route reach 85 per cent or more for six straight months, Canadian North will be required to adjust its schedule accordingly.

Another component of the deal limits the airline to a 10 per cent profit margin, although its routes for Edmonton-Yellowknife and Montreal-Kuujjuaq, Que., are exempt.

However, the federal government is allowing Canadian North to recover past losses over three years.

The Makivik Corporation in Nunavik and the Inuvialuit Development Group in the Beaufort

Delta region of the Northwest Territories own Canadian North.

Arctic Fresh Projects expands

While Canadian North was setting the stage to reduce service, a smaller airline in Nunavut has been adding communities under its banner. Arctic Fresh Projects, a division of Iglulik-based Arctic Fresh, which has food market and construction arms, started off its aviation venture by offering flights between Sanikiluaq and Iqaluit in 2022. It then began Iqaluit-Iglulik and Iqaluit-Clyde River routes in January 2023.

The Arctic Fresh Projects fleet comprises two PC-12s, which can each seat up to nine passengers, and one Beechcraft 1900D that carries up to 19 customers.

The company’s director of sales and operations alluded to the possibility of expanding into more communities and adding cargo service.