Calgary flights set to take off from Kalispell

With recent approval by the Federal Aviation Administration, a new flight service between Kalispell and Calgary, Alberta, is expected to begin Nov. 1.

By Chery Sabol
The Daily Inter Lake

SkyXpress Airline, owned and operated by Flight-Ops International, Inc., will begin with flights three times a week, according to Bob Brown, vice president in charge of operations.

That could quickly expand, if business is what Brown thinks it will be.

It’s the result of more than a year and half of work and research that convinced him that the market into Calgary should be robust. The Calgary-based company looked into a Calgary connection with Great Falls and Helena, among other sites, Brown said. But the Flathead-Calgary link is logical, he found.

The flights can tap into Canadian travel to Big Mountain, golfing and other attractions. And Flathead residents, businesses, hockey and football fans, and Lasik eye surgery patients who go to Calgary will have service that will get them there in about 42 minutes, Brown said.

It takes about five hours to drive to Calgary, he said.

The service is aimed at international flight beyond the neighboring countries. Travelers leaving the continental U.S. can book a direct flight to Calgary and go abroad from there without changing planes. Foreign travelers aiming for Montana will have the same option in reverse.

Brown plans a formal announcement on the service Oct. 18.

Three companies have promised similar service, but couldn’t deliver. SkyXpress, with its Jetstream commuter aircraft, navigated the turbulent arrangements to make it happen.

The flights will leave from Edwards Jet Center at Glacier Park International Airport, connecting with a similar facility at the Calgary airport. The arrangement is both more cost-effective than using the main terminal and will expedite security checks, Brown said.

Both U.S. and Canadian customs departments have "gone out of their way" to accommodate the airline, he said.

He said the flights will cost about $200. They include in-flight service on the 19-passenger planes. They have the largest fuselage of any commuter airline, with enough space to stand upright, and double insulation that reduces engine noise in the cabin, Brown said.

More details will be available after the Oct. 18 meeting.

"We’re starting small," he said. But if demand warrants it, the service could send two full planes across the border. It might expand to make a Couer d’Alene-Calgary flight, and it might eventually fly direct from Kalispell to Edmonton, Alberta.

The company will still charter planes outside the usual flight times.

Additional services "will depend on the volume," he said.

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