Darrell Greer
Northern News Services

Yellowknife ( Jun 07/00) - A number of Nunavut communities are going to be a whole lot easier for Kivalliq residents to reach later this month.

Kivalliq Air, a division of Keewatin Air, announced it will be expanding its current flight schedule to include the communities of Pelly Bay, Taloyoak and Gjoa Haven, via Rankin Inlet.

The new schedule will connect the communities with Churchill, Arviat, Rankin Inlet, Repulse Bay and Baker Lake five days per week.

Beginning June 21, Kivalliq Air will be serving all three Nunavut regions and be connecting with Canadian North flights to Iqaluit.

Randy Klym, director of sales and business development for Kivalliq Air, says air travellers to Rankin Inlet from Pelly Bay can currently expect to pay $3,900 on a full-fare basis.

He says Kivalliq Air's new fare will be 55 per less than that and its excursion fare will be 75 per cent less than the current rate.

"This will be much more manageable for the regular traveller," says Klym.

"When you look at government travel, if you save $2,000 or $3,000 on an air fare and multiply that over the course of a year, the extra money can be used on countless other things."

Klym says the service will open up new possibilities for business in the various communities.

In the past, businesses wanting to work with Pelly Bay, Gjoa Haven or Taloyoak had to operate via Yellowknife, he says.

"That meant longer transport and cost, but now they'll have a direct link to those communities, which should open up the possibility of a number of business links which never existed before.

"We'll have a lot of educating to do with this new service because people never had this opportunity before."

Keewatin Air has been servicing the Keewatin Region since the 1970s.

Klym says the airline has already received positive feedback on the move and, this week, airline reps will be visiting a number of communities to inform hamlet councils on how the new service works.

"Our airline works with, and listens to, our communities. This is a win-win situation for everybody in this region.

"We're the first airline to make a move in an effort to support Nunavut and this service will have all that travel money being spent in this territory.

"We will also be making every effort to hire as many local people in the various communities as we can, which is another benefit to the regions."