Nolinor win air contract for Mary River Project
Nolinor, local partner win air contract for Nunavut’s Mary River project
Cargo-passenger service based out of Kitchener-Waterloo
JANE GEORGE
A new joint-venture alliance between Nolinor, a Quebec-based charter airline and Sarvaq Logistics, an expediting and freight firm at the Iqaluit International Airport, plans to run two flights a week from the airport at Kitchener-Waterloo, Ont. to northern Baffin Island.
Two Boeing 737s will fly to Nunavut with cargo and passengers to a mining project that multiple sources have identified as the Baffinland Iron Mines Corp.’s Mary River iron mine project.
But Dave Morgan, the director of charter operations at Nolinor, said he cannot release the name of the company yet due to contractual obligations.
But he said he’s looking forward to the first flight north on Sept. 16, which will carry cargo and 119 passengers
Nolinor’s flights will depart in the morning from the Kitchener-Waterloo airport and on their way up stop at Iqaluit, where Frobisher Bay Touchdown Services will provide refueling and other services.
If bad weather prevents the flights to and from the mine from taking off again, passengers will stay in Iqaluit, Morgan said.
Nolinor now has joint ventures across the North to take advantage of mining exploration and production: in the Kitikmeot region, where it recently established a base in Yellowknife with Kitikmeot Aviation, in the Kivalliq region with Sarliaq Holdings Ltd, where their joint venture provides transportation for the Meadowbank gold mine near Baker Lake, and in Nunavik, with Developpements Aputik.
“We want to grow across the Arctic,” Morgan said.
Nolinor’s efforts in working with local people has generated positive response and feedback, he said.
Many people he’s met in the North also welcome a new player, Morgan said, saying his company’s presence breaks what he called “the monopoly in Arctic aviation.”
The new flights could also open new charter opportunities for people traveling from the North.
Nolinor and one of its partners could, for example, offer flights from one of its northern destinations to Kitchener-Waterloo when the 737s (three now and another one set to arrive shortly) are not flying.
As well, members of the public could even “crowd-source” flights, Morgan suggested, by selling seats to a flight online, which has been done successfully in other places.
COMMENTS on Nunatsiaq Online
September 11, 2013
#1. Posted by Just a thought... on September 09, 2013
If the charter flights ended up being cheaper than YFB-YOW-YYZ, I’d fly to KW all the time! Let’s do it, Nolinor!
#2. Posted by Numbers on September 09, 2013
If #s were to be determined by random bookings…
ABout $200,000 in costs.
At 112 people, that’s $1700+ in cheap tickets, totalling the investment.
And really, are the students and people of the KWA really ready for the people of Canada’s newest territory?
More importantly, the reciprocal? Bon appetitit, Waterloo!
#3. Posted by Charter on September 10, 2013
To #1 - do you know how charters work? You won’t be on it unless you work for the mine or a contractor. This arrangement will do nothing for the people of Nunavut.
#4. Posted by Just a thought... on September 10, 2013
#3, I am quite aware of how charters work. In case you missed the following, I’ll post it.
“The new flights could also open new charter opportunities for people traveling from the North.
Nolinor and one of its partners could, for example, offer flights from one of its northern destinations to Kitchener-Waterloo when the 737s (three now and another one set to arrive shortly) are not flying.
As well, members of the public could even “crowd-source” flights, Morgan suggested, by selling seats to a flight online, which has been done successfully in other places.”
