NewLeaf (Winnipeg International) is the latest entrant into Canada's Ultra Low Cost Carrier (ULCC) market alongside Canada Jetlines (AU, Toronto Pearson) and Enerjet-backed Jet Naked (Calgary). Backed by the Legacy Partners Wealth Strategies Inc. investment firm with SRT Financial Inc. providing consultancy, the start-up plans to charter three B737-400s from Flair Airlines (F8, Kelowna) initially with an additional four to be damp-leased should demand exceed capacity.
Once the carrier has secured its Air Operators Certificate (AOC) from Transportation Canada, it will then transition to dry-leasing aircraft.
"Between owned and leased aircraft, NewLeaf plans to have an operating fleet of nine aircraft in its second year of operations and 15 aircraft in its third year," it said in a project prospectus.
In terms of network, NewLeaf will employ classic LCC strategy focusing on secondary airports serving large cities - in this case Hamilton, ON for Toronto and Abbotsford for Vancouver - to help keep overheads as low as possible.
Flair Airlines already cooperates with package-vacation specialist NewLeaf Travel Co. Inc. in providing charter flights from Hamilton to Kelowna with passengers then transferred to ski resorts such as Big White Ski Resort, Sun Peaks Resort, Revelstoke Mountain Resort and Apex Mountain Resort.
