Haligonains will soon be able to catch a plane to Europe for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic began.
The German airline Condor announced today it will start offering flights between Halifax and Frankfurt on September 9.
The Frankfurt flight will leave twice a week from Halifax: on Thursdays and Saturdays. Condor is also offering flights between Toronto and Frankfurt three times a week.
Right now, Condor’s website is selling seats on flights for €299, which is about $45o Canadian.
Condor’s announcement comes days after the federal government announced its plans to loosen Canadian border restrictions to fully vaccinated travellers.
In a news release, Condor CEO Ralph Teckentrup said the company decided to offer the flights shortly after the Canadian government announced its plans to open up the Canadian border to international travel starting Sept. 9.
“Within a few hours, we received so many requests for Condor flights that we decided at short notice to offer five connections per week from Frankfurt to Canada starting in September,” explains Ralf Teckentrup, CEO of Condor.
The first Condor flight out of Canada will leave the same day the border opens. Condor says passengers on the flights must be fully vaccinated.
Airport Spokesperson Leah Batstone says the Frankfurt flight will be the first to a non-US destination to fly out of Halifax. But she anticipates more will start showing up soon.
“We expect it could take several weeks or months for airlines to start to bring scheduled U.S. and International passenger services back. The operation of these flights will depend on demand,” Batstone told Huddle in an email.
She said the airport is expecting flights to New York, Florida and “a variety of Caribbean destinations” this year, and more offerings in 2020.
