REGINA - Leaders representing Regina‘s business and economic community were all smiles Monday at the announcement that WestJet would launch direct flights from Regina to Minneapolis-St. Paul.
The announcement of the daily route, which is being launched on April 28 2024, marks the return of a direct route from Regina to the Twin Cities for the first time since 2016. It also culminates years of efforts by Regina Airport Authority and local business and hospitality organizations to restore direct service to a hub in the USA.
“We are so excited and thank WestJet for having confidence in our market,” said Tracy Fahlman, President and CEO of Regina Hotel Association.
Fahlman acknowledged that the lack of a direct route had been a barrier to attracting events and conventions to Regina, especially international ones.
“What this service means is huge in terms of our event acquisition strategy. Hotels work really hard with our community partners every day, community partners like Regina Airport, Chamber of Commerce, Economic Development, to attract events and conventions to the city and there’s been a tool in our destinations marketing kit that’s been missing for a number of years. And we just replaced it, and we’re really excited is this really strengthens our city’s appeal to those that host national and international national events.”
Chris Lane, President and CEO of Economic Development Regina, called it a “great day.”
“I think connectivity from an economic perspective is so important to any city at any time, but this one specifically Minneapolis is a big deal for our ag and food industry here in Regina so it’s a big deal.”
Lane has been part of the stakeholder meeting in October in Regina with the CEO of WestJet, Alexis von Hoensbroech, in which a restoration of service to the USA was a major topic. Lane said there was a unified message coming from the business and tourism community.
“You heard it here today that this community gets together and becomes aligned pretty quickly. So the message to Alexis I think was very universal and very aligned around the importance of not just service to a US destination, but a strategic destination.”
Lane noted there were a lot of similarities for Regina to the business done in Minneapolis-St.Paul, which includes headquarters for Cargill and other Fortune 500 companies. He noted the details about flight times and frequency came about from the message from these organizations and their meeting with the CEO.
“This announcement is going to have a really positive impact on our economic situation not only for Regina but southern Saskatchewan,” said Tony Playter, CEO of Regina Chamber of Commerce.
“There’s the opportunity for a $5 million economic spurn with the money coming in from passengers. That’s going to benefit not only our hotels, our tourism, but also our retail and our restaurants. That’s a real positive for our city and it’s going to create jobs, and the economic spinoff from this flight is going to benefit us for years to come.”
Regina Wascana MP Michael Kram was at the announcement and welcomed the return of a direct flight to Minneapolis-St.Paul.
“Obviously, this is a very very exciting day for Regina and for southern Saskatchewan. It’s been a long time since we had daily flights to a major US hub, and this will certainly open Saskatchewan to the world. It certainly is exciting to be able to have access for the travelling public of Regina and southern Saskatchewan to get to faraway destinations, and to make it more easier for our international partners to come to Saskatchewan to do business and to spend their tourist dollars as well.”
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