(File photo/ CJME News staff)

By Logan Stein/ CJME News

Direct international flights still not available for Sask. airports

Sep 23, 2021 | 11:45 AM

The airports in Regina and Saskatoon still don’t have direct international flights months after travel restrictions were eased.

James Bogusz, head of the Regina Airport Authority, says tropical flight destinations aren’t in jeopardy for December — yet.

“Sunwing is still on track right now to start for mid-December. The challenge we’re running into, though, is that both us and Saskatoon — as well as a number of airports our size — are still not able to take an international flight to arrive at our airport directly,” Bogusz said on Thursday’s Greg Morgan Morning Show.

“Those flights are on the books; they’re being sold. And now that the election is over, I can tell you we’re going to be emphasizing this challenge to the government. We have to get this solved.

“It’s been almost since the beginning of the (COVID-19) pandemic that we haven’t been able to take any international flights and we feel the time has come.”

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People intending to go to an international destination right now instead have to take a connecting flight to a place like Calgary or Toronto in order to get to their final international destination.

Despite the current circumstances, Bogusz is hopeful for some changes.

“We certainly expect that before these things start, all of this will be resolved,” he said. “So we’ve been just pushing hard with Transport Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada.

“We believe we have all the right facilities ready to go. They’re just not quite there yet, and hopefully now that the election is over, we can get this done.”

Bogusz announced in June there would be direct flights from Regina to six tropical locales during the 2021-22 vacation season.