NewLeaf Travel grounded

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WINNIPEG (NEWS 1130) – NewLeaf Travel will not be taking off next month.

The airline says it’s suspending operations and refunding ticket sales as the Canadian Transportation Agency reviews its aviation licence.

Anyone who’s already booked by credit card will get their money back.

“During this uncertain time, we didn’t want to put anyone with existing bookings at risk, and we wanted to give customers time to make other travel arrangements” explains NewLeaf CEO Jim Young.

The airline says thousands of bookings have already been made.

NewLeaf billed itself as an ultra-low-cost carrier that would fly out of smaller airports like Abbotsford and Kelowna.

The company suggests it will try to resume sales as soon as it can, but there’s no timeline for the review process.

McGill Professor Karl Moore has offered consulting advice to several airlines including British Airways and feels this is just a speedbump.

“If NewLeaf is really doing this because of financial reasons rather than because of concern about the Canadian Transport Agency, then maybe it’s a different issue,” says Moore. “But if it’s really that they’re being careful and wanting to avoid risk, I still think they have a pretty good future potentially in front of them.”

“It’s something where I think they’re being careful here, and being prudent,” says Moore. “That’s fair enough. Given the people behind it, I’m not worried about whether they’re competent or able to do it. They’ve done this thing before.”

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