Fort Frances mayor confident on return of air passenger service

Air passenger services could be returning to Fort Frances in the near future.

The town is in talks with North Star Air.

Town officials got an opportunity to check out the company earlier this month, when they flew to Thunder Bay to view North Star’s operations.

Mayor Andrew Hallikas is impressed with the Thunder Bay-based company.

“They’re a really good company,” says Hallikas.

“I’m really impressed with them, and I’m really impressed with their philosophy, which is to form a partnership with the community that they’re serving. They’re really willing to be flexible in terms of providing this air service, which bodes well for us.”

As part of the negotiations, town council agreed to set aside $60,000 for marketing purposes.

Hallikas says a recent report suggested there was support for a return to air passenger services, and they want to ensure that that support translates into use.

“We need to really make sure it works, and they really want to make sure it works,” says Hallikas.

“And our end is to make sure that all of those people in the report that said that they would use this air service, use it.”

Fort Frances, along with Kenora and Dryden, lost air passenger service when Bearskin withdrew in January 2024, citing declining passenger loads as a reason.

North Star began flights to Kenora earlier this year.

Hallikas is confident a new service will be supported in Fort Frances.

There is still more talking to take place before the first flight by North Star happens.

Hallikas says the town has some areas at the airport to address, such as ticketing and servicing of the aircraft.

He puts no date as to when North Star could begin serving Fort Frances but expects it will not be long after negotiations are made final.