Canada Jetlines: Ultra-low cost carrier being proposed for Western Canada

I don't see how they will be able to compete - the low cost model is based on flying into smaller airports in major urban centres (like Luton & Stanstead in London instead of Heathrow). Most centres in Western Canada DON'T have a second airport to fly into. Still, competition is usually a good thing, so I'm all for for it.

Bah, I smell another flash-in-the pan Canadian airline that either goes belly-up after a couple of years or gets bought up by Air Canada/Westjet, ala Jetsgo, Canada 3000, Royal Aviation...am I forgetting anybody?

But I still say go for it, I just don't think they'll be around long.

I can't see this happening. There are not enough mid-sized centres in Western Canada that would make this venture profitable.

They mention in the story one of the airlines they would model themselves after is Allegiant. I've flown them a few times and have been quite happy with their service and especially their price. They seem to link smaller airports to key seasonal destinations, like Vegas, Orlando and Phoenix. Flights out of say Red Deer or Swift Current to any of those places would be similar to the US pattern.

As an example, my wife and I flew to Phoenix out of Duluth, Minnesota. Duluth is a 3+ hour drive south of here. We didn't need to overnight there so no hotel was needed. Parking at the airport was $45/week and we were gone 2 weeks. I don't pay for my gas but you can add on about $70 for gas, less if you get your gas in the US. The direct flight for both of us was $343.00 round trip, all taxes and bag charges included. We didn't pay for extras like seat selection etc so the grand total was $503, return to home. WestJet from here was just over $1,400, Air Canada was $1,800 and both had to connect in Toronto which added over 4 hours of flight time to the travel. That also didn't include the wait between connections in Toronto and possibility of missed connections. We had a similar experience flying out of Duluth to Orlando too.

Just have to be big enough to land a passenger jet. Here is a picture of the Mesa/Phoenix airport we flew in and out of.