Good morning from Erik Nielsen Whitehorse International Airport!
My name is Alex, and today’s a special day for Yukon‘s airline!
Air North serves Canada’s Yukon territory from
its base here in Whitehorse with a fleet of 737 Classics and ATR 42s.
They have a well established route network out of Whitehorse using the ATRs for destinations
within Yukon and the 737s for longer flights south to places like Vancouver and Calgary.
However, they seem pretty content with their existing network,
and it’s not every day that they start a completely new route.
Their last new destination was Victoria back in 2018, as a tag-on to their Vancouver route.
So, when they announced back in November that they’d be starting flights from Whitehorse to
Toronto via Yellowknife, which is the very first time the Northwest
Territories and Yukon have ever had a direct link to Canada’s largest city,
I knew I had to come here and see what an Air North inaugural flight was like!
The terminal here in Whitehorse is fairly modest, with just enough space for the three Canadian
airlines that serve it, including, of course, home carrier Air North. And, interestingly,
I’m told that the WestJet signage gets swapped out on the days that German carrier Condor flies in!
At Air North’s check-in, they were giving out these celebratory bag tags,
and I also got this handy list of the day’s events.
About an hour before our departure time, there were also a couple of speeches
talking about the significance of this route.
The post-security area in Whitehorse has just enough room for one or two flights’
worth of people, and waiting at one of the two jet bridges was our plane for today,
a 29-year-old Boeing 737, registered as Charlie Foxtrot Alpha November Foxtrot.
This 737, a rare -500 model, first flew for LOT Polish Airlines, and did so for nearly 2 decades.
After that, it flew in Africa for a bit with
Rwandair before making its way to Air North in 2014.
Now, it’s worth mentioning at this point that we’ll be spending the better part of the day
on board this 737, since the flight heads to Yellowknife first, which is about an hour and a
half of flight time, plus a 45 minute stop there, and then another four hours in the air to Toronto.
That makes this one of the longest domestic flights in the entire country,
flying over 3 provinces, 2 territories, and crossing 3 time zones.
So, let’s go see what Air North has in store for us!
My seat for today’s adventure is 10A, in the exit row on this 737-500.
As you would expect, there is a ton of legroom, which I
knew I would need on a flight this long, plus a nice wing view.
An interesting quirk about Air North’s 737s is that some of them have
old Southwest Airlines seats, and you can still make out their old logo.
With that, here’s our departure from Whitehorse, off of runway 14R.
On Air North’s 737s, you’ll find the usual tray table at every seat, except for the first row,
and the seatback pocket has quite a bit of space plus this literature package.
Inside was the safety card for the Boeing 737-500,
Some comment cards, in case you’re a normal person who doesn’t provide
airlines feedback in the form of YouTube videos,
As well as Air North’s inflight magazine,
which had plenty of interesting articles about the North as well as the airline itself.
It is also worth mentioning that Air North does serve Ottawa as well with
the same stop in Yellowknife and has done so for quite a few years now.
This summer, they’re flying once a week to Ottawa, and twice a week to Toronto.
And finally, there’s the usual air sickness bag.
As I looked closer at the timeline of the day’s events while having some
“breakfast”, we got a glimpse at the MacKenzie mountains. And just for the record, the food on
this flight was most certainly NOT limited to my gas station purchases, so stay tuned!
The Mackenzie mountains are essentially a continuation of the Rocky Mountains,
and mostly follow the border between Yukon and the Northwest Territories.
Thankfully it was pretty clear for this part of the flight,
and was a true treat to see this mountain range I knew nothing about beforehand!
We also heard a few words from the captain of our flight, Air North’s President and CEO
Joe Sparling, who also acted as a bit of a tour guide for us!
Now, by far one of the best things about Air North is their onboard service, and
they did not disappoint on either leg!
Even though this flight was just an hour and a half long,
we still had a full drink and snack service! I went for a cup of coffee, brewed locally in
Whitehorse by Midnight Sun Coffee Roasters in this special Air North branded cup.
That was followed by a small breakfast in a bag, which included a muffin, orange,
and slice of cheese, plus a wipe and some butter. This was all prepared by Air North’s own inflight
kitchen, and funny enough, you can actually buy some of their food at stores in Whitehorse!
That muffin was very very tasty, and was the perfect snack to have
as we left the Mackenzie River behind.
Soon enough we began our descent over the unspoiled landscape of the Northwest
Territories, and here’s our arrival into Yellowknife, landing on runway
34.
This stop in Yellowknife was pretty short, with just enough time to deplane some people,
refuel, and board some more passengers for Toronto.
I did have a chance to peek outside though, and it was nice to at least get a glimpse
of the Northwest Territories’ capital after not having been here for almost three years!
Back in my normal seat, another 30 or so people
made their way on board and soon we were pushing back for Toronto.
Here’s the departure from Yellowknife, off of runway 34.
Airborne from YZF, we got some more great views of the landscape below,
and pretty quickly, the cabin filled with the scent of hot food.
Air North already sets itself apart from other Canadian airlines by offering complimentary food
on board, but on their, quote/unquote, “long haul” flights to Ontario, they offer an actual hot meal!
On today’s flight there were three options,
a Bison Shepherd Pie, Chicken Curry, and a Vegetarian Option.
I went for the bison, which came with a pasta salad, bread roll,
cheesecake, and the shepherd’s pie itself.
The salad was very tasty, as was the bread roll, which was surprisingly soft.
The main course, which I’d kinda been looking forward to all day,
was absolutely DELICIOUS and was gone in a matter of seconds!
Even then, there was still a slice of cheesecake, and that was just incredible.
I kinda regret not buying one of these at the store just to take home with me!
Then again, I’m not too sure how well it would survive flying across the country… twice.
Also on the meal tray was this special placemat commemorating this inaugural
flight, which you bet I kept!
Air North’s 737-500s have 122 seats in their typical all-economy configuration.
That means the usual 3-3 seating all throughout the cabin,
except for the last row, which has two seats next to the rear lavatory.
Speaking of which, it’s got a decent amount of space,
though you can tell it gets used quite a lot on these long flights!
Something else I noticed is that you can also see
traces of this plane’s Polish heritage on the lavatory signs.
In terms of in-flight entertainment, well, Air North is a bring-your-own type of airline,
but with ForeFlight and a bunch of movies I downloaded beforehand, I was well-amused.
Even after that amazing meal, the crew still wasn’t done,
and came around with a third and later a fourth drink service!
As we dodged some dicey-looking weather, the crew also gave out these gift bags to every passenger!
Inside was a granola bar from the Air North Flight Kitchen, a 737 pin,
two Air North pens, this inaugural flight pin, a Yukon pin, this ATR 42 sticker,
some chocolate macarons, and this party hat.
Those who got off the plane in Yellowknife got their own bags too,
handed out just before we landed there.
There is one Air North staple that we didn’t quite get on this flight, and that’s their
warm cookies that they bake on board. However, between all the hot meals and the gift bags,
I think that may genuinely have run out of space so it’s perfectly understandable.
It certainly doesn’t diminish just how fun the rest of the flight was.
With that, after 6 or 7 hours on board, here’s our arrival into Toronto, landing on runway 06R.
So, that was Air North’s inaugural flight to Toronto! What a great day that was,
and what a fun flight to be on!
I think it’s safe to say that Air North is one of Western Canada’s hidden gems.
The fact that they actually give out complimentary food on domestic flights
(reasonably priced ones, no less) is astounding in this day and age.
That, plus the super welcoming crew, and the roominess of the exit row,
made this a really really pleasant flight.
In total, from boarding in Whitehorse to deplaning in Toronto, I spent about 7 hours on that plane.
That is quite a long time to spend on a 737 Classic, but for Yukoners and Northwest
Territorians alike, that’s nothing compared to having to first fly south to someplace like
Vancouver or Calgary just to get to Toronto and beyond. So the convenience of having a direct
connection from the largest city in Canada to two of Canada’s territories is unparalleled.
There were also a few more speeches taking place in Toronto, but unfortunately they
were before security, and scheduled to happen 20 minutes before my next flight home.
As much as I would have liked to attend, I didn’t really want to
take my chances with security lines these days, so I’ll leave it there.
Huge congratulations to Air North on the launch of
this historic route and I think it’ll do very well for them.
Thank you so much for watching this special day with Yukon’s Airline,
and I’ll catch you next time.