Discount airline service carrier NewLeaf Travel gets green light to resume flight sales

Discount carrier NewLeaf Travel says it’ll resume selling low-cost flights within the next couple weeks since it’s received the go-ahead from Ottawa to continue operations.

Chief executive Jim Young says the organization expects its first flight to take off as soon as late spring or early summer. In the meantime, it will focus on reintroducing itself to consumers.

Late Tuesday, the Canadian Transportation Agency issued a ruling that said indirect air service carriers like Winnipeg-based NewLeaf would not be necessary to hold a licence if their flight operator is licensed.

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NewLeaf purchases seats from Kelowna, B.C.,-based Flair Airlines and resells then to the public. Flair Airlines, which owns and operates a number of Boeing 737-400 jets, is licensed under the CTA.

Young said the organization never described itself being an airline, which needs to be licensed, even though he admits there is some confusion available on the market.

Moving forward, NewLeaf will make sure that all its marketing and branding reflects that it is merely a reseller, which complies with the CTA decision.