Photo by Whitehorse Star
Air North President Joe Sparling
Air North spreads its wings to Philippines
Air North is expanding its horizons.
Air North is expanding its horizons.
Ranj Pillai, the minister of Economic Development and Tourism and Culture, announced Friday in Vancouver that the familiar Yukon air service has struck an arrangement with Philippine Airlines to offer more direct links between the two jurisdictions.
“The Government of Yukon welcomes Air North’s work to finalize an interline agreement with Philippine Airlines, which will further strengthen the ties between the Yukon and the Philippines,” a news release said.
“Among other benefits, the interline agreement will allow travellers to purchase multiple segments on a single ticket to connect between the two regions.
“Air North anticipates that the arrangement will be in place by May 1, 2022.”
Joe Sparling, the president of Air North, spoke to the Star this morning to discuss the new agreement.
“This just gives us an ability to sell travel to a market we have had access to before.”
While the news conference and release talked up Philippine workers as the primary target, Sparling noted that he expected it would be more than that.
He said Yukoners are always looking for warm places to travel to during our long winters.
The prospect of “seamless travel” between the territory and the tropical island nation would likely appeal to many people, he pointed out.
“People are anxious to travel again,” he said.
The new agreement will also have some potential to make up for business lost during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Every little bit helps,” he said, “and every passenger counts.”
There’s no doubt, though, that Filipinos wanting to come to the Yukon, as well as ones already living and working here, should make up the initial bulk of the passengers.
The Filipino community is one of the largest immigrant communities in the Yukon, according to statistics.
Pillai said, “Congratulations to Air North for working to secure this interline agreement with Philippine Airlines.
“The Yukon is home to a large Filipino community, and this agreement will make it easier for Filipino Yukoners to connect in-person with family and friends.
“This also presents an opportunity to continue to welcome more visitors to the Yukon, creating more jobs, strengthening our tourism industry and growing our local economy.”
Filipino language speakers will be able to book directly on the Philippine Airlines website or with travel agents who can provide service in their native language.
Baggage will be transferred through the Vancouver interline connection to the final destination.
According to the 2016 Canadian census, 39.7 per cent of the visible minorities living in the Yukon were Filipinos.
See related story.
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Comments (27)
Up 0 Down 1
Dennis on Apr 14, 2022 at 5:40 pm
How to apply in yukon?
Up 15 Down 17
Joy Stewart on Mar 24, 2022 at 9:09 am
Very proud of you Joe !
Up 19 Down 4
Liberalism Kills! on Mar 23, 2022 at 11:22 pm
Response to - Woodcutter on Mar 22, 2022 at 12:19 pm:
Where you say, “Here we go again, the complainers…” I say, how about you just do you. Blend in, you know, if you can’t beat them, join them…
Don’t let it bug you so much. Do you not see the irony in your frequent references to “complainers” or some other similar referent indicative of your displeasure?
From an outside perspective it’s ironic as hell… You complain a lot about complainers and whiners… Wow! That suggests poor self insight. You might want to talk to someone qualified about that.
Up 30 Down 3
Interlines are a big step on Mar 23, 2022 at 12:58 pm
Bottom line is the Philippine Airlines-Air North interline will benefit some travelers by providing more options for travel not only to/from Philippines but also to other places PAL flies, such as New Zealand and Singapore. Of course this won't be of interest to everyone, but it will clearly provide more travel options for Yukoners.
Also worth noting Air North also has an interline with Condor, which you can see by searching Whitehorse flights on Condor's website. Instead of being limited to only flying on Tuesdays during the short summer season, Yukoners have many options for travel to/from Frankfurt and elsewhere in Condor's network, not only other days of week but also for travel outside of Condor's operating season.
Further, to @Warm Climate's point, Air North has an interline with Alaska Airlines, providing substantial access to U.S. destinations on channels, such as credit card reward systems, U.S. online travel agencies, and through travel agencies. Often sun destination bookings via Air North-Alaska are more affordable in terms of price or points cost on credit card systems, and the options through Seattle can be very competitive, particularly for secondary U.S. airports that don't have direct service from YVR. For example, destinations such as Salt Lake City or Nashville are very competitively accessible through Seattle - or for example Ontario, California, which is a convenient airport for a Joshua Tree National Park trip.
With all of these interlines there are unique aspects in terms of which websites and other channels they are distributed on and specific terms around pricing. In general, consumers will have access to more options and better pricing than if they bought two separate tickets, in part due to the price itself but also because baggage fees only have to be paid with the first carrier.
There are many possibilities that can deliver broad benefit to Yukoners if Air North continues to add more interline partnerships, so this is a big step in the right direction. Other airlines will notice this announcement, and it will likely contribute to other future successful partnerships as well.
Up 37 Down 41
Dan on Mar 22, 2022 at 7:31 pm
Another irrelevant development to all of us who remain discriminated against, in this "free" country.
Up 30 Down 29
Groucho d'North on Mar 22, 2022 at 6:03 pm
Catching a big one begins with some casting around.
Well done Mr. Sparling & your team!
Up 19 Down 39
bonanzajoe on Mar 22, 2022 at 5:38 pm
I think Joe should put on a special weekly flight to Moscow for the NDP and Liberals. Vacationing in Moscow would be a great ideological get away.
Up 14 Down 11
Berna Elkami on Mar 22, 2022 at 5:11 pm
What a racist comment about the Philippines quite offensive surprised you even posted that comment.
Up 20 Down 15
Bandit on Mar 22, 2022 at 4:54 pm
@Woodcutter,
Let me guess, I am assuming by your post that you are a middle-aged white guy that couldn't get a home grown girl that would put up with your BS so you travelled to the Philippines' to find a wife that would put up with almost anything to get away from there. On a side note is it a coincidence that Air North announced this at the same time as Ranj announced a Labour Agreement with the Phillipines. But good on Air North for keeping us flying affordably.
Up 4 Down 11
Roger on Mar 22, 2022 at 4:36 pm
When will they announce the airfare structure and flight schedules. Do they provide health insurance coverage?
Up 44 Down 19
Anie on Mar 22, 2022 at 3:28 pm
A good news story. Joe Sparling and his business partners have contributed so much to the Yukon.
Up 30 Down 14
Bob on Mar 22, 2022 at 1:43 pm
Going to the Philippines is a great way to enjoy beautiful weather and wonderful people.
Up 43 Down 42
woodcutter on Mar 22, 2022 at 12:19 pm
Here we go again, the complainers totally missing the achievement, however small for this airline, may have some great financial impacts for this Yukon company.
Next time I go to see the my Filipino family, I will probably choose Air North, not because they are flying to Cebu, but because now, i can do both legs of the trip without having to deal with my luggage. In the past I would have to retrieve my luggage and hang onto it for several hours and boy is that difficult. I had to Fly Air Canada, from Whitehorse in order to have my luggage transferred to Philippians Airline. The sometime 8 to 12 hour wait time is an opportunity for me and the kid to take the sky train down town and enjoy the sites.
The Pinoy's are international travellers and represent a much larger customer base than a few snow birds that want to go to Palm spring or Vegas, besides that route is over served and dominated by discount carriers, so no that's not a good business niche. I wouldn't be taking any business advice advice from a Warm Climate.
Mathew is feeling left out, it appears his xenophobia is such that he thinks that only Foreign workers would use this service, oh to be so provincial and not have a headache. Why didn't you just say "what about me", i am sure Air north can set up a cry baby flight for you and all else.
Then there is Diaspora, casting judgement on a folk that he/she has no contextual knowledge about, other that what is fed to he/she from the media.
Mark Twain penned a comment that perfectly flits you Diaspora “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts." A trip in Asia will let you know, that not all folks eat eggs, toast, hash browns and bacon for breakfast and that racism , while still present, is much less of an issue in many parts of the world that have strong international ties.
Good for you Air North, you tapped into a revenue source that was passing you by for over 10 years.
Next time I will give Air North a try.
Up 36 Down 10
Sheepchaser on Mar 22, 2022 at 10:19 am
It’s not a direct flight, right? Still a stop in Vancouver? Now your bags can be checked through and you can get service in multiple languages. So, like 1999 standards with any other Canadian carrier. Big news!
Up 30 Down 8
comen sense on Mar 22, 2022 at 9:06 am
To Snowball no your stuck with Air Canada they go out of their way to make your flight miserable.
Up 30 Down 35
YukonMax on Mar 22, 2022 at 8:05 am
Really? The Philippines???
Talk about tapping into a saturated market.
What's the "REAL" deal?
There must be some guarantied earnings here.
Are "we" subsidizing the Filipinos trips to come to the Yukon?
The Facebook page from my community has postings from people looking for work. They are here already. Can't we help them first?
Up 60 Down 23
YT on Mar 22, 2022 at 7:37 am
Whenever a Yukon resident is defined with a prefix, i.e; Filipino Yukoner, Franco-Yukonnais, you can bet their own school is in the works.
Whatever happened to just being a Yukoner?
Up 31 Down 38
Diaspora on Mar 21, 2022 at 9:13 pm
….really? Duterte, El Presidente…A country run by a murderer …. Not sure who is in a hurry to go there? As there is a Filipino diaspora here, in the Arctic… from the tropics..??? That perspective doesn’t inspire me as a tourist destination- unless our single males are looking for a wife.
Up 19 Down 8
Mikin Bilina on Mar 21, 2022 at 6:52 pm
Good work, flyboy!
Up 35 Down 40
Matthew on Mar 21, 2022 at 5:29 pm
Talk about catering to a specific group of people.. I thought we were supposed to be past that in 2022..
Up 31 Down 21
Warm climate on Mar 21, 2022 at 5:16 pm
Thinking a better solution would be flights to Phoenix and Palm Springs, Vegas?
More would support these trips as Yukoners always going there. Got it regarding Phillipines, but the rest of us…….
Up 37 Down 8
martin on Mar 21, 2022 at 4:52 pm
@Waiting; I'd think that Air North wouldn't have any problem ID'ng you. They don't have many customers such as you. I, for one, I got excellent service every time I needed in the past 32 years, may be it was just luck.
Up 49 Down 128
Where did the news go? on Mar 21, 2022 at 4:38 pm
Is this even a news story? Government subsidized airline promoting its business? There has to be more going on in Whitehorse then who flies where!
Up 44 Down 159
Anonymous on Mar 21, 2022 at 3:58 pm
God I wish that were me (able to board a plane without having to divulge my medical records to a total stranger, only to be denied when it's revealed I'm among the 'unclean').
Up 90 Down 51
Snowball on Mar 21, 2022 at 3:06 pm
Lol how about more places to fly in Canada.
Up 127 Down 36
Al on Mar 21, 2022 at 2:55 pm
Good for you Joe. This will provide a big benefit to our Filipino friends here in the Yukon.
Up 66 Down 116
Waiting on Mar 21, 2022 at 2:37 pm
Maybe concentrate on your customer service first. I've been waiting a week for a reply to a simple question by multiple emails.
Cue the air North cult down-voters, lmao.