Sydney Airport to announce new air travel route

For quite some time now, the Sydney Airport has been operating on two flights in-and-out per day – each route having a single to-and-from flight to Montreal and Toronto.

"Just recently, we went to Boston and my wife and I had to drive to Halifax to catch an hour-and-15-minute flight to Boston,” said Cape Breton Regional Municipality Deputy Mayor James Edwards.

Edwards said there is a particularly strong need right now for more air traffic at the small, regional airport, citing increasing enrolment at Cape Breton University and the new NSCC campus downtown as just a couple of examples of sources of potential travelers.

As things stand now, people often make the three-and-a-half hour drive to-or-from the Halifax Stanfield International Airport.

"It isn't really a huge inconvenience for us, but if we're going down south or whatever Halifax is usually the first stop unless we get a connector out of Montreal or Toronto,” Edwards said.

Next week, the Sydney Airport Authority plans to announce what it's calling a transformational new route along with Cape Breton's newest airline.

However, they wouldn't provide any further specifics on Friday.

"We don't want to talk on behalf of other stakeholders, other organizations but yeah there will be more options, more availability, for the people of our community,” said Myles Tuttle, Sydney Airport Authority CEO.

The Cape Breton Regional Chamber of Commerce says having a viable airport is critical for a community that's trying to grow.

"It keeps our tourism industry growing and makes sure that we have a hub in our community that people can travel in and out,” said Megan Penney, Chamber of Commerce CEO. "We can't wait to see our business community and our community as a whole rally behind this."

Back at the Sydney Airport, Tuttle said they remain in talks pretty much daily with different airlines.

"So people don't have to so much have to rely on connections in central Canada to go to their ultimate destination,” Tuttle said. “Ultimately, there has to be a business case to support that."

The next step, including the new route and airline, are set to be unveiled Thursday afternoon.

For more Nova Scotia news visit our dedicated provincial page.