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Fly Sarvaq starts ticket sales for Iqaluit-Ottawa flights

Iqaluit's newest air service is now open for business. Fly Sarvaq began selling $499 return tickets to Ottawa or Halifax by telephone Tuesday morning.

Tickets go on sale Tuesday for first flights in May

A Nolinor Aviation Boeing 737 takes off from Iqaluit airport. The company is partnering with Sarvaq Logistics to offer Iqaluit-Ottawa passenger flights under the Fly Sarvaq banner. (Patrick Nagle/CBC)

Iqaluit's newest air service is now open for business. 

Fly Sarvaq announced in January it would offer seats on one-way flights from Iqaluit to Ottawa and Halifax for as little as $499. The company began selling tickets by telephone Tuesday morning. 

Fly Sarvaq is a partnership between Iqaluit-based Sarvaq Logistics and Nolinor Aviation. 

Allen Hayward, who's with Fly Sarvaq, said while that price is available as a preliminary seat sale, prices won't always be that low. 

But, he said, the air service's more expensive tickets — at $1,800 for a return flight to Ottawa or Halifax — are still cheaper than the competition.

If a passenger were to fly tomorrow on First Air or Canadian North, they would pay around $3,000 return from Iqaluit to Ottawa for the most expensive fare, according to the airlines' websites.

Hayward said ticket sales have been brisk, despite some technical difficulties with the website. 

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