LONDON – In the last couple of days, Canadian carrier Swoop has announced plans to add six Boeing 737 MAXs to its fleet as well as expand its network.

The acquisition of six MAXs will bring the fleet’s total count to 16, with the airline attributing this to the high peak season travel demand.

Commenting on the acquisition was Bert van der Stege, the Head of Commercial & Finance at Swoop:

“We saw demand for travel return in a very meaningful way over the holidays, signaling that Canadians are ready to reunite with family and friends,”.

“The acquisition of six new aircraft in response to anticipated demand will ensure Swoop reconnects more Canadians this summer while accelerating Canada’s economic recovery.”

The route expansion from Swoop is quite substantial, with the following services being added between May and June:

• Newfoundland and Labrador
  • Deer Lake – Hamilton, 2x weekly (May 21)
  • St. John’s – Hamilton, 5x weekly (June 13)
  • Deer Lake – Toronto, 2x weekly (June 20)
• New Brunswick
  • Moncton – Hamilton – 4x weekly (May 9)
  • Saint John – Toronto – 4x weekly (May 12)
  • Moncton – Edmonton – 2x weekly (May 9)
• Prince Edward Island
  • Charlottetown – Hamilton – 4x weekly (May 1)
  • Charlottetown – Toronto – 3x weekly (May 2)
  • Charlottetown – Edmonton – 2x weekly (May 1)
• Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • Halifax – Edmonton – 5x weekly (May 1)
  • Halifax – Ottawa – Daily (June 19)
• Ontario
  • Ottawa – Winnipeg – 4x weekly (June 19)
  • Winnipeg – Toronto – Daily (June 20)
• Saskatchewan
  • Saskatoon – Winnipeg – 2x weekly (June 14)
  • Saskatoon – Toronto – 2x weekly (June 22)
  • Regina – Winnipeg – 2x weekly (June 16)
  • Regina – Toronto – 2x weekly (June 22)

Such capacity additions represent around 273% to that of pre-pandemic levels, which is a huge investment made by the carrier.

It also means that the ULCC’s total non-stop domestic routes served will increase to 37 by the Summer.

van der Stege added to this, including its investments in the Newfoundland and Labrador area:

“Swoop is pleased to support Newfoundland and Labrador’s Come Home 2022 campaign and stimulate recovery of the visitor economy with access to affordable air travel”.

“We know how important the re-opening of travel and tourism is for regional economic recovery and continue to call on the federal government to outline a roadmap for the recovery of air travel that is based on science and reflective of the current realities of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

In all, this is a considerable expansion from Swoop, which will no doubt have a good return on investment as COVID-19 slowly begins to ease in the region.