ATR 42-500. (Submitted Photo/Rise Air)

By Jaryn Vecchio

New Aircraft

Rise Air adds new aircraft to help meet demand from northern Sask. communities

Oct 14, 2022 | 11:41 AM

A northern Saskatchewan airline is continuing to update its fleet to meet the demands of people in remote communities.

Rise Air recently purchased an ATR 42-500, a much more modern and reliable plane.

Derek Nice, president and CEO of Rise Air, told paNOW their current aircrafts are just too small.

“We don’t have the capacity to meet all the demands for passengers and cargo.”

The ATR 42-500 will be able to fly up to 34 passengers. Right now, they can have between 14 and 25 passengers per flight.

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During the summer, the airline is forced to lower their capacity limits on their current planes due to the warmer weather, however, this won’t be an issue for the ATR 42-500. The new aircraft will also be able to hold more passenger baggage and cargo for the communities.

Nice said the goal is to replace their entire commercial fleet with ATR 42-500’s within the next five years. This is a part of a long-term plan which has already been worked on for several months.

“That process started last year when we brought in the first of our new King Air Aircraft which we used to update the medevac services,” added Nice.

Along with just being more modern and reliable, Nice explained they’re adding the new aircrafts to help meet customer demand.

Like most airlines, the COVID-19 pandemic hit Rise Air hard. However, Nice noted more people in northern communities are scheduling trips for medical appointments that had been previously cancelled and to simply travel.

“We see some strong demand going forward and we think that’s not going to diminish, so we’re stepping up to be able to accommodate that.”

The first ATR 42-500 is expected to see its first flight sometime in January 2023 and officially go into regular service by February. This aircraft will specifically be servicing several communities such as Fond du Lac, Stony Rapids, and Wollaston Lake.

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Jaryn.Vecchio@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @princealbertnow