Canada's Flair Airlines Plans Flights to US in October

Canadians and Americans looking to fly across the border could have one more airline to choose from this fall, if virus-related travel restrictions between the two countries are gone by then, as planned.

Canadian budget carrier Flair Airlines said Thursday that on Oct. 31 it will begin flying to six U.S. leisure destinations including Las Vegas; Fort Lauderdale, Florida; and Palm Springs, California.

Flair executives suggest that their tiny airline can undercut big Canadian and American carriers on price. Swoop, a low-cost carrier owned by Canada's WestJet, is trying that approach too.

Flair officials said they will fly to the U.S. from eight Canadian cities including Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver.

The airline is led by a former executive of Hungary's Wizz Air. It flew charters before converting to a mix of low fares and lots of fees, similar to U.S. carriers Spirit and Allegiant. Flair tried flying to the U.S. once before, but ended that service in 2019.

Flair has five Boeing 737 Max jets and three older 737s, with eight more Max planes on order.