Summary
- Lynx Air celebrates its recent route between Montreal and Tampa with a successful inaugural flight, offering passengers a low-cost travel option.
- The Canadian carrier now operates 4 weekly flights between the 2 destinations and has grow to be TPA’s latest airline partner.
- Tampa International Airport expects its busiest Thanksgiving travel period ever, with roughly 80,000 passengers each day in the course of the holiday season.
Canadian ultra-low-cost carrier Lynx Air is celebrating its latest route between Canada and the US after a successful inaugural flight from Tampa International Airport (TPA) to Montréal–Trudeau (YUL). The brand new route comes per week after Lynx’s first-ever flight to Tampa.
Linking Montreal and Tampa
Lynx Air operated its first Tampa-Montreal flight on November 17 with the Boeing 737 MAX. Flight Y9764 departed TPA at 12:47 and landed at 15:31 local time. Passengers were treated to a celebratory event with cake and giveaways. The return flight (Y9664) departed YUL at 17:18 and landed at 20:32.
Photo: Robin Guess | Shutterstock
The carrier will operate 4 weekly flights between the 2 destinations on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Sundays. In accordance with TPA, Montreal holds a special place for the airport as its second-largest Canadian market. Lynx joins Air Canada on the route, which operates up to 3 weekly flights through its subsidiary, Air Canada Rouge.
With a fleet of nine B737 MAX 8s, the Calgary-based carrier flies to eleven domestic and 7 international destinations. With the introduction of its latest US-Canada flights, Lynx Air now has three non-stop routes from Montreal to the US. This includes Montreal to Las Vegas (LAS), Tampa (TPA), and Orlando (MCO). At 1,945 NM (3,602 km), YUL-LAS is the longest of the three, followed by YUL-TPA at 1,128 NM (2,089 km) and YUL-MCO at 1,082 NM (2,003 km).
Inaugural flight to Tampa
Lynx Air now has two non-stop routes between Tampa and Canada. The primary flight to TPA was operated on November 10 from Toronto Pearson Airport (YYZ). With this service, Lynx became TPA’s latest airline partner, offering passengers a brand new ultra-low-cost travel option. It also became the fourth airline to fly between the 2 destinations, after Air Canada, Porter Airlines, and WestJet.
Photo: Tampa Airport
The inaugural flight (Y9651) departed YYZ at 12:38, arriving at TPA around 15:10 local time. The service was celebrated with the normal water cannon salute, giveaways, and cake on the gate for each departing and arriving passengers. The return flight took off from TPA at 16:19 and landed at YYZ at 18:43. Speaking in regards to the recent service, Tampa Airport CEO Joe Lopano said,
“Tampa International Airport warmly welcomes our newest airline partner, Lynx Air, because it offers a low-cost choice to Toronto, an important marketplace for us. Tampa Bay has strong ties with our Canadian friends, who’re an important a part of tourism, homeownership, and business investment across our region, and we appreciate the broader decisions in air travel that Lynx will provide.”
Similarly, Lynx will operate 4 weekly flights from Toronto to Tampa on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Sundays. The Canadian airline now flies to 5 US cities from Toronto, including three in Florida – Los Angeles (LAX), Phoenix (PHX), Fort Myers (RSW), Tampa, and Orlando. It also serves the three Floridian cities from Vancouver (YVR) and Calgary (YYC) international airports.
Tampa International connections
Tampa International Airport has non-stop passenger flights scheduled to about 97 destinations in 11 countries, operated by greater than 21 airlines. Amongst them is Breeze Airways, which recently announced 4 recent destinations from TPA. Also on the list is Virgin Atlantic, which recently celebrated one 12 months of flying to Tampa, and Edelweiss, which looks to double its flights to the coastal city.
Photo: Tampa Airport
Moreover, the airport expects to witness its busiest-ever Thanksgiving travel period this 12 months. Roughly 80,000 passengers will travel through TPA each day from November 16 to November 26. Projections suggest that Wednesday, November 22, and Sunday, November 26, will probably be the busiest, with 84,000 to 87,000 passengers expected to go through the airport on the 2 travel days.
What are your thoughts on Lynx launching flights to Tampa? Will you be traveling to Florida this Thanksgiving? Please tell us within the comments!