Air Canada to add daily direct Yellowknife-Vancouver flights in December

Direct flights between Yellowknife and Vancouver will soon be returning to Air Canada.

The airline made the announcement in a news release Wednesday morning, sayingit will begin offering daily direct flights from Dec.15, 2017 to April 1, 2018, starting at $219 one way.

The airline previously offered the popular route before cancelling it in the summer of 2011. At the time, tourism industry representatives said they believed the cancellation would reduce the number of tourists in Yellowknife.

• No Air Canada Vancouver-Yellowknife service affects tourism

In the release, Benjamin Smith, the president of passenger airlines for Air Canada, saysthe route will save almost four hours of round-trip travel time for customers travelling the route.

The route will be offered on a 75-seat Bombardier CRJ-705 aircraft.

Flights from Yellowknife to Vancouver will depart at 7:30 a.m. MT and arrive at 8:53 a.m. PT, while flights from Vancouver to Yellowknife will depart at 4:00 p.m. PT and arrive at 7:30 p.m. MT.