Swoop Airlines, which flew discount flights to and from Victoria, will close

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Budget airline Swoop will now be folded into parent WestJet, following a new labour deal that will see both lines' flights’ pilots paid similarly. WestJet says it will now set aside a number of lower-priced seats on its flights, but has not committed to maintaining all the Swoop routes.

The budget airline was launched in 2018 and began flying from YYJ in 2021, with initial service to Toronto and Edmonton, later adding other cities including vacation destinations in the US and Mexico. Swoop had also launched Comox-Edmonton last summer but did not continue it past Sept. 15, saying passenger loads hadn't been high enough.

Planned Swoop flights will continue until October; the only current destination from Victoria for those flights is Toronto. Current prices for that route are mostly in the mid-$200s one-way for this summer (but with no current July flights) and the $100s this fall.

Current WestJet prices for the same one-way Toronto trip are mainly $300s and $400s during summer, then dip down to a number of $145 budget flights in the fall, and return to the $300s for late fall and winter.

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Aug / Sept Swoop flights from Victoria as of June 13

Aug / Sept WestJet flights from Victoria as of June 13

Several major budget airlines now operate in Canada, but only Flair flies out of YYJ. Across the water YVR has Lynx, but last holiday season showed that getting from the Island to the Vancouver Airport in the winter can become complicated.

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