Hubbry Logo
search
logo
2055209

Canadian North

logo
Community Hub0 Subscribers
Write something...
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Be the first to start a discussion here.
See all
Canadian North

Bradley Air Services, operating as Canadian North, is a Canadian airline headquartered in Kanata, Ontario, Canada. It operates scheduled passenger services to communities in the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and the Nunavik region of Quebec, as well as southern destinations such as Edmonton and Ottawa. It also has an interlining agreement with Air Greenland.

Canadian North was established in 1989 as a subsidiary of Canadian Airlines International, specifically to serve northern Canadian communities' needs. The airline traces its roots to former operators Nordair in eastern Canada and the Canadian Arctic, and Pacific Western Airlines in western Canada and also in the Canadian Arctic. Wardair also maintained a significant Arctic presence during its existence.

In September 1998, Norterra purchased Canadian North, whose ownership was divided equally among the Inuvialuit Development Corporation, representing the Inuvialuit people of the western Canadian Arctic, and Nunasi Corporation, representing the Inuit of Nunavut.

After utilizing three different livery schemes, Canadian North adopted its final pre-merger logo in 2003. Its logo displayed three of the distinctive symbols of the North: the polar bear, the midnight sun and the Northern Lights. Canadian North's slogan was changed from "Your North. Your Airline" to "seriously northern" (all in lower-case), with advertising changed to reflect different aspects of the company (serious service, serious delivery, etc.).

In June 2007, Canadian North began serving the Kitikmeot communities of Gjoa Haven, Taloyoak, Kugaaruk, and Kugluktuk. In April 2008, flights began to seven communities in the Qikiqtaaluk Region (Baffin Region) of Nunavut.

On 1 April 2014, the Inuvialuit Development Corporation (IDC), representing the Inuvialuit of the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, bought the 50% share of Norterra held by Nunasi. The purchase of Nunasi's interest in Norterra gave the IDC complete control of Canadian North, Northern Transportation Company (now Marine Transportation Services), and other companies that were jointly-held. On 11 April 2014, Norterra and Makivvik, owners of First Air announced that they were in negotiations to merge the two airlines. According to a website that had been set up on that same day, the new airline would be owned equally between the two companies and "a merger would create a stronger, more sustainable business, provide better service to customers and lead to new economic development opportunities across the North. We believe the two companies would complement each other's strengths." In October 2014, it was announced the merger would not go through, but Canadian North would still codeshare on some flights with First Air until 16 May 2017. On 23 February 2017, the Inuvialuit Development Corporation (IDC) announced that arrangements had been concluded to transfer ownership of Canadian North directly into Inuvialuit Development Corporation.

Bradley Air Services, later operating under the trade name First Air, was founded by Canadian aviation pioneer Russel (Russ) Bradley, and started operations in 1946. Beginning as a flying school in Ottawa, Ontario, and moving in the fall of 1946 to Carp, Ontario, First Air started scheduled operations in 1973 between Ottawa and North Bay, Ontario. This service was operated with an eight-seat passenger plane.

In 1979, Bradley acquired the routes and some aircraft from Survair, which itself had taken over the smaller Arctic community routes from Nordair Arctic, which was itself derived from the main airline, Nordair. Future Bradley acquisitions included Ptarmigan Airways, and later NWT Air, both Yellowknife based.

See all
User Avatar
No comments yet.