The Regina Airport added some pink to its airport as Swoop will now be flying out of the airport.

The ultra-low-cost carrier had its wheels touchdown for the first time in Regina this morning, with the plane quickly heading off with its first set of passengers.

Video by Tandem X Visuals

James Boguez, the president and CEO of the Regina Airport Authority, said that Swoop coming to Regina is a great opportunity for the airport.

“For YQR and really all of southern Saskatchewan, this represents over 1,100 departing seats per week with two flights a week to Edmonton, Winnipeg, and Toronto,” he said. “Swoop is offering a competitive product to West Jet and Air Canada, and we know with the price of travel going up, now is the time to have more competition in the market.”

Boguez said that this would also help provide a boost to the City of Regina.

“When we talk about seats, we are referring to the capacity for the airport, which directly translates into GDP for our entire region. This is tens of millions of dollars of GDP for us here in the City, and it also creates jobs.”

Bert van der Stege, the head of commercial and finance for Swoop, said they are excited to add Regina.

“Adding Regina to our growing list of destinations gives me great pleasure,” he said. “We see it as our mission to make travel more affordable, and as a result, we are expanding fast. There is a tremendous pent-up demand to reconnect with family and friends, explore the country, and start travelling again.”

“We know the demand is there, so we are always looking for new opportunities and adding Regina to our network,” he added. “Combing that destination with three destinations that we already serve, we think is a great fit, and we’ll make hopefully, a very, very, big impact here in the community.”

The average Swoop ticket is $14, and they become the third full-time airline flying out of Regina, joining West Jet and Air Canada.