Flair Airlines' first direct flight from Windsor to Orlando set to take off Thursday

Windsor International Airport President and CEO Mark Galvin said Flair will fly from Windsor twice a week on Sundays and Thursdays until March 31, 2024.

“Orlando is one of the top destinations for this region, period,” stated Galvin.

“I think with the twice a week you can go for a few days, you can go for longer, you can go as long as you want. It gives a little more flexibility for the traveller to escape,” Galvin added. “Orlando is obviously one of the biggest tourism destinations there are.”

The flights from Windsor land at Orlando Sanford International Airport with prices ranging from between $102 to $415 each way, according to Flair’s website.

Galvin told CTV News Windsor officials will monitor demand for the direct flight to determine if more flights in the future will be possible, and noted there are none scheduled with Flair following March.

“We look forward to growing that partnership and looking forward to the future and seeing where else we can have a direct connection from YQG,” Galvin said.

Windsor International Airport President and CEO Mark Galvin is seen in Windsor, Ont. on Feb. 6, 2024. (Chris Campbell/CTV News Windsor)He added, “They'll assess how successful it was. We'll have a call shortly after this season and we'll kind of look to see what we can do. Right now, we're hearing good reports from it. But it's all going to come down to you know, we can set the table and then people have to take advantage of it and the more that happens, the more we can leverage that into something in the future.”

Travel agents at Valente Travel on Ouellette Avenue said having another airline option is welcome, but noted some customers are facing Flair cancellations in April.

“Of course it's great to have options out of Windsor and it’s great that airlines are finding Windsor as an attractive destination to fly from,” said Valente Travel owner Al Valente. “The fact that Flair came to Windsor and is able to do that. That's great news.”

“We're not sure about after March right now, so April, May we're not really quite sure,” he cautioned. “But they are here for now and we're going to work with that.”

Valente said the good thing about Windsor are the city’s options, including charters out of Windsor, plus airports in Detroit and Toronto as options, and even airports as far as London or Lansing, Mich.

 “We have all kinds of options out of this area and the fact that Flair’s added to this is even more,” he said.

— With files from AM800 News