Yellowknife (July 02/01) - Kenn Borek Air is dropping three Nunavut hamlets of its schedule, saying that flying to them has tallied losses over the years amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Scheduled weekly service to Resolute, Arctic Bay and Pond Inlet will cease in 120 days, says Kenn Borek general manager Steve Penikett.

The communities are still serviced by First Air.

"The losses are getting larger and we just can't take it any more," says Penikett.

He said continuing high gas prices were the final straw.

The 120-day notice for dropping a route is required by the Canadian Transportation Agency.

Kenn Borek has been flying to the communities since 1975, when it bought Kenting Aviation.

The company uses a Twin Otter for the route.

"When you have to start compensating for a 50 per cent increase in fuel costs, passing that on to the client just doesn't sit well," Penikett said.

He said ticket prices from Resolute Bay would have to double in order to make the flight viable.

"I wasn't prepared to go there so I just said why don't we just suspend service and get out of there."

The mayors of two affected communities could not be reached, and Resolute Mayor George Eckalook did not want to comment until learning more about the airline's decision.