OTTAWA - First Air has announced changes to its scheduled routes to take effect on June 1.

First Air has made more changes to the service it offers in the NWT. - NNSL file photo

The airline will be introducing a new service to Norman Wells.

"We felt it was an opportunity to go into a new market," said Chris Ferris, vice-president of marketing and sales with First Air.

The Norman Wells service will be offered four days per week as part of the current route to Inuvik.

"We're adding a new stop, but not a lot of new flying," Ferris said.

Service between Yellowknife and Edmonton will be reduced from 16 to six roundtrip flights per week.

Ferris said the reduction of the Edmonton-Yellowknife service is a result of southern carriers entering the route over the past few years.

"It's really the gross overcapacity on the market," he said.

While First Air loads have remained strong on the route, he said because of reduced prices due to overcapacity it was not sustainable for First Air to maintain its frequency of flights.

The airline market in Yellowknife is in transition, Ferris added. "It's almost like it's become a southern market."

Finally, there will be a change to the airline's trans-territorial flights. The existing service remains, but there will be added flights between Iqaluit and Montreal.

The Ottawa-based First Air announced the adjustments to its route network on April 15.

"We are responding to changes in the marketplace and focusing our schedule on serving our core Northern markets," said First Air president and CEO Scott Bateman in a news release. "With our previous expansion in the Kivalliq region, this current schedule realignment confirms our position as the key facilitator of economic activity throughout the Arctic."

On March 31, First Air began service to four communities in Nunavut's Kivalliq region – Chesterfield Inlet, Coral Harbour, Repulse Bay and Whale Cove.

At the end of March, the airline cancelled its scheduled service between Yellowknife and Whitehorse.