Labrador Airways Limited, operating as Air Labrador, was a regional airline based at the Goose Bay Airport in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. It operated scheduled daily passenger and freight services throughout Labrador and Quebec, as well as charter operations with the options of landing in remote and off strip destinations with skis, wheels and floats. The airline's main base was Goose Bay Airport, with a secondary hub at Lourdes-de-Blanc-Sablon Airport, Quebec.[3] Its motto was "The Spirit of Flight" (French: "Esprit du vol").

Air Labrador
IATA ICAO Call sign
WJ LAL LAB AIR
Founded1948
Ceased operationsJune 2017
HubsGoose Bay Airport
Focus citiesLourdes-de-Blanc-Sablon Airport, Quebec
Frequent-flyer programNone
AllianceNone
Fleet size9[1]
Destinations24[2]
HeadquartersGoose Bay Airport
Key peoplePhilip Earle (President)
Brent Acreman (Director of Flight Operations)
Dan Michelin (Chief Pilot)
Websitewww.airlabrador.com/home

History

edit

The airline was established and started operations in 1948, as Newfoundland Airways operating float-equipped aircraft from a base in Gander, Newfoundland on charter, mail and freight work to northern Newfoundland and Labrador. Since then the base of the company has moved to Goose Bay. It was purchased in 1983 by Provincial Investments Inc., owned by Roger Pike, along with associate company, Labrador Aviation Services Ltd. Air Labrador was owned by the Pike Family, but then taken over by Philip Earle in 2010. Air Labrador conducted a fantasy flight in the 1990s with a Santa Claus visit on board while it taxied the tarmac.[4] In March 2009, the company announced they were ceasing flight service to Montreal due to financial trouble. Airline service ended in Newfoundland in May 2009, two months after announcing the shut down of Montreal operations. The airline later continued to fly within Labrador and Quebec, as well as St. Anthony, Newfoundland and Labrador until its merger in 2017.

On February 3, 2012, the company announced that the Nunatsiavut Government had bought a 51% share in Air Labrador.[5]

In June 2017 Air Labrador merged with Innu Mikun Airlines to form Air Borealis.[6]

Destinations

edit

Air Labrador operates services to the following domestic scheduled destinations (as of February 2017):[2]

Newfoundland and Labrador

edit

Quebec

edit

Fleet

edit
 
Air Labrador Dash 8 at Sept-Îles Airport (aircraft now retired from the fleet)

As of July 2017 Transport Canada listed 9 aircraft registered to Air Labrador.[1]

Fleet
Aircraft No. of aircraft Variants Notes
Beechcraft 1900 2 1900D Up to 19 passengers
Beechcraft King Air 1 100 Series Up to 9 passengers
De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 6 300 Series Up to 19 passengers

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ a b "Canadian Civil Aircraft Register: Quick Search Result for Air Labrador". Transport Canada. Retrieved 2016-01-15.
  2. ^ a b "Air Labrador Destinations". Air Labrador. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2016-01-15.
  3. ^ "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International. 2007-03-27. p. 59.
  4. ^ "Flight to the North Pole". YouTube. 2007-12-17. Archived from the original on 2016-01-29. Retrieved 2009-10-18.
  5. ^ "Inuit company buys controlling stake in Air Labrador; CBC News". 2012-02-04. Retrieved 2012-02-05.
  6. ^ "Innu, Inuit join forces to create new airline for Labrador". 2017-06-16. Retrieved 2017-09-16.
edit