Lynx Air, legally incorporated as 1263343 Alberta Inc., is a Canadian ultra-
low-cost carrier
A low-cost carrier or low-cost airline (occasionally referred to as '' no-frills'', ''budget'' or ''discount carrier'' or ''airline'', and abbreviated as ''LCC'') is an airline that is operated with an especially high emphasis on minimizing ope ...
based in
Calgary
Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, maki ...
,
Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
. It previously operated as Enerjet and was rebranded as Lynx Air on November 16, 2021. The first flight under the Lynx Air name took place on April 7, 2022, operating from
Calgary International Airport
Calgary International Airport , branded as YYC Calgary International Airport, is an international airport that serves the city of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It is located approximately northeast of downtown and covers an area of 20.82 square ...
to
Vancouver International Airport.
History
Enerjet
Enerjet was originally formed in 2006 by a small group of entrepreneurs addressing what they perceived to be a gap in the service provided by Canada's major airlines,
WestJet
WestJet Airlines Ltd. is a Canadian airline headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, near Calgary International Airport. It is the second-largest Canadian airline, behind Air Canada, operating an average of 777 flights and carrying more than 66,130 ...
and
Air Canada
Air Canada is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocea ...
in "middle Canada". It was initially known as New Air & Tours until October 20, 2008, when New Air & Tours revealed its name and corporate logo to be styled as Enerjet. Enerjet was founded by nine individuals, including Tim Morgan, the former senior vice president of
WestJet
WestJet Airlines Ltd. is a Canadian airline headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, near Calgary International Airport. It is the second-largest Canadian airline, behind Air Canada, operating an average of 777 flights and carrying more than 66,130 ...
.
On November 28, 2008, Enerjet received an
Air Operator's Certificate
An air operator's certificate (AOC) is the approval granted by a civil aviation authority (CAA) to an aircraft operator to allow it to use aircraft for commercial purposes. This requires the operator to have personnel, assets, and system in plac ...
(AOC) and Air Operators License issued by the
Canadian Transportation Agency. While the airline initially planned to launch as a scheduled
low-cost carrier
A low-cost carrier or low-cost airline (occasionally referred to as '' no-frills'', ''budget'' or ''discount carrier'' or ''airline'', and abbreviated as ''LCC'') is an airline that is operated with an especially high emphasis on minimizing ope ...
(LCC), the airline focused instead on charter operations involving the transport of employees of oil companies, such as for
Suncor Energy, as well as ad-hoc charter services for
Air Transat, deeming the leisure travel market to be competitive following the collapse of
Zoom Airlines, as well as the presence of leisure carriers such as WestJet.
By 2012, the airline was still seeking investment to expand into scheduled LCC operations, and had operated some flights between Calgary and Vancouver during peak holiday travel periods, with plans to expand the services to Kelowna and Edmonton. By 2016, the airline had gone through two tentative names for its LCC project, consisting of ''Jet Naked'' and ''FlyToo''. In late 2018, the airline announced it had attracted investors in order to transition from chartered flights to scheduled operations, one of which included
Indigo Partners, which had notably invested in other LCCs including
Frontier Airlines
Frontier Airlines is a major ultra-low-cost U.S. airline headquartered in Denver, Colorado. It operates flights to over 100 destinations throughout the United States and 31 international destinations, and employs more than 3,000 staff. The ca ...
,
JetSmart
JetSmart Airlines SpA, stylized as JetSMART, is a South American ultra low-cost carrier created by US investment fund (and co-founder of LBM Fermin Ithuralde) Indigo Partners, which also controls low-cost carriers like US airline Frontier Air ...
,
Volaris, and
Wizz Air, and Enerjet subsequently planned to relaunch as an LCC during 2019.
Lynx Air
On November 16, 2021, the company revealed its new name as Lynx Air, with plans to begin flying in the first quarter of 2022.
During the announcement, the airline made commitments for up to 46
Boeing 737 MAX 8
The Boeing 737 MAX is the fourth generation of the Boeing 737, a narrow-body airliner manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA), a division of American company Boeing. It succeeds the Boeing 737 Next Generation (NG) and competes with t ...
aircraft over the next seven years to meet the anticipated demand, with deliveries starting in early 2022, and that it would follow the
low-cost carrier
A low-cost carrier or low-cost airline (occasionally referred to as '' no-frills'', ''budget'' or ''discount carrier'' or ''airline'', and abbreviated as ''LCC'') is an airline that is operated with an especially high emphasis on minimizing ope ...
model for its operations.
The airline additionally announced it would initially operate domestic routes with plans to later add international destinations. On April 7, 2022, Lynx Air's first flights launched.
Management
Merren McArthur is the airline's President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO). She previously served as CEO for both
Tigerair Australia and
Virgin Australia Regional Airlines, and founding CEO of Virgin Australia Cargo.
Vijay Bathija is the airline's Chief Commercial Officer (CCO), with prior experience at
Etihad Airways and
Air Canada Rouge.
Tim Morgan is the airline's Chief Operations Officer (COO) and Founder. He previously served as Senior Vice President of
WestJet
WestJet Airlines Ltd. is a Canadian airline headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, near Calgary International Airport. It is the second-largest Canadian airline, behind Air Canada, operating an average of 777 flights and carrying more than 66,130 ...
, with additional prior experience at Morgan Air LLP/Air Partners/Aircraft Works, and Lynx's predecessor Enerjet.
Michael Holditch is the airline's Chief Financial Officer (CFO),
having previously been the CFO of Enerjet.
Destinations
, Lynx Air operates to the following destinations:
Prior to rebranding as Lynx Air and operating scheduled services, the airline operated charter flights on demand to various destinations as Enerjet.
Fleet
Current
, Lynx Air operates the following aircraft:
Previous
As Enerjet, the airline previously operated the following aircraft:
Fleet development
As Enerjet, the airline operated a fleet of Boeing 737-700 aircraft for its charter operations, with a single 737-800 leased from
Transavia
Transavia Airlines C.V., trading as Transavia and formerly branded as ''transavia.com'', is a Dutch low-cost airline and a wholly owned subsidiary of KLM and therefore part of the Air France–KLM group. Its main base is Amsterdam Airport Schip ...
on occasion, before the 737-700s were retired by 2017. After retiring its 737-700s, Enerjet subsequently retained an inactive DHC-6 Twin Otter fleet in order to keep its AOC, while the airline underwent its subsequent transformation from chartered to scheduled operations in the coming years. When the airline eventually announced its rebranding as Lynx Air in November 2021, the airline announced that it had ordered 46 Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft for delivery through 2028.
In March 2022, the airline announced it had ordered an additional 11 737 MAX 8s.
See also
*
List of airlines of Canada
This is a list of airlines of Canada which have an Air Operator Certificate issued by Transport Canada, the civil aviation authority of Canada. Please see lists of airlines by provinces or territories for sorted lists.
Note: Airlines in have sc ...
References
External links
*
{{Airlines of Canada
Airlines of Canada
2006 establishments in Alberta
Airlines established in 2006
Companies based in Calgary
Low-cost carriers