REGINA — It seems the latest airline route on the wish list of Saskatchewan residents is a return of direct service between the province’s two major cities.
Whether there is a desire for air service between Saskatoon and Regina was the subject of a survey commissioned by the Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce and Regina Chamber of Commerce.
That survey was done in October of 230 respondents, and the chambers posted the results online. The results show wide support for such a route.
According to the survey results, 94 per cent of respondents said they would use the service, 67 per cent said they would purchase one to two round trip tickets per month, 76 per cent thought a $500 round trip fare was reasonable, and two-thirds said they would be willing to prepay for tickets.
Most respondents also said they preferred a flexible flight schedule of two times a week, and 71 per cent said they were willing to travel light with carry-on luggage.
The desire for a return of Saskatoon-Regina direct flights follows on the heels of the return of a number of much-coveted routes in the past couple of years, including regular flights between Saskatchewan and Minneapolis-St. Paul, and more recently regular direct flights between Regina and Denver.
The successful return of those flights was also highly lobbied for and endorsed by the business community in the province.
Minister of Trade and Export Development Warren Kaeding acknowledged the appetite for flights between Saskatoon and Regina in speaking to reporters at the Legislature on Thursday.
“We’ve certainly heard the interest to connect Regina and Saskatoon. The business sector, I know, is really looking to that. We’re hearing from a lot of our business sectors about connectivity, not just between Regina and Saskatoon, but even into the US,” said Kaeding,
Both the Minneapolis-St. Paul and Denver routes were supported by revenue guarantees by the province. Kaeding said it was “way too early into that discussion.”
“We’d certainly want to understand who wants to participate in that, what the competitive forces are there, but we certainly encourage the private sector to participate in that.”
Speaking to SaskToday, Regina Airport Authority CEO James Bogusz said there had been regular air service between Saskatoon and Regina up until the pandemic.
Bogusz said there has been talks, both before and after the survey, to restore the direct routes but “there hasn't been interest yet from an airline in having that service begin again.”
He indicated the most likely target for the route is smaller provincially-based airlines similar to those airlines who served the route in the past. Saskatoon-Regina had previously been served by direct flights from TransWest Air, which is now part of Rise Air.
Bogusz said his airport is “very supportive” of what the chamber was doing with the survey. He sees the purpose of that survey as to allow “a potential airline to gauge at least” the business community’s views on the service.
“It’s just a start to help create the discussion.”
From Regina’s perspective, “we’re open for business,” said Bogusz. He said if an airline was interested in trying the route, the airport would help during the initial period with incentives, marketing awareness and reduced landing fees.
