Thursday, June 13, 2013

New charter company sets up shop in CamBay, Yellowknife: Montreal-based Nolinor to work with Kitikmeot Air

June 13, 2013 - 8:35 am

NUNATSIAQ NEWS

A new alliance of charter air companies plans to bid for lucrative charter business in western Nunavut.

Kitikmeot Air Ltd. announced June 12 the conclusion of a long-term contract that will see Nolinor Aviation of Montreal provide aircraft for charters from bases in Cambridge Bay and Yellowknife.

Nolinor Aviation has based two of their Convair 580 airplanes in the North, to be followed by a Boeing 737 later this year, a news release said.

Nolinor has been operating chartered flights into and around northern Canada for more than 20 years.

“We’re very excited to be working with our new partners,” said Bill Lyall of Cambridge Bay, who is the president of Kitikmeot Air. “They’ve been working up here for a while now, and our companies can both trace their roots to the bush pilots that contributed to the growth of this region many years ago.”

Kitikmeot Air, which is registered with the Nunavummi Nangminiqaqtunik Ikajuuti policy and with Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.as an Inuit firm, lists RenĂ© Laserich of Cambridge Bay’s Adlair Aviation Ltd. as its regional manager.

The Convair 580 is a robust airplane that can get in and out of the short runways of the North, needing just 3,500 feet to land and take off and can carry up to 49 passengers, with lots of room for baggage in the cargo holds, the news release said.

The aircraft can be operated with various configurations of passengers and cargo, as a freighter, and also as a tanker, delivering bulk fuel products to remote locations.

“We’ve been looking to become more active in the western Arctic for a while now,” said Nolinor’s present Jacques Prud’homme. “We just needed to wait for the right partner to come along. We’re very happy to be working with Mr. Lyall, and the Laserich Family.”

Laserich’s company Adlair maintains hangars in Cambridge Bay and Yellowknife.

Adlair, which had done air ambulance emergency medevac work since the 1970s, in late 2011 lost a Government of Nunavut contract it had held since 2002.

The GN said it could not grant Adlair any bid adjustments on the basis of the NNI, a policy designed to encourage Inuit-owned businesses in Nunavut.  

This decision gave rise to a long, loud controversy over GN procurement policies, and a still-unresolved lawsuit filed last December by Adlair against the GN.

Story and Comments/Reaction:  http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca

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