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Bearskin Airlines
Founded	July 17, 1963
Hubs	Sioux Lookout Airport, Thunder Bay International Airport
Focus cities	Greater Sudbury Airport
Fleet size	15
Destinations	17
Headquarters	Sioux Lookout, Ontario
Key people	John Hegland, Founder
Website	http://www.bearskinairlines.com

Bearskin Lake Air Services Ltd., trading as Bearskin Airlines, is a regional airline based in Sioux Lookout, Ontario, Canada. It operates services in northern Ontario and Manitoba. Its main bases are Sioux Lookout Airport (YXL) and Thunder Bay International Airport (YQT), with a hub at Greater Sudbury Airport (YSB)^[1].

[edit] History

The airline was established in 1963 by bush pilot Otto John Hegland and started operations in July 1963 from its base at Big Trout Lake, Ontario (but was named after Bearskin Lake where Hegland had a general store). It started out by providing only charter services to the remote First Nations reserves in northern Ontario, using bush planes equipped with floats in the summer and skis in the winter. In 1977, they began their first regular scheduled flights between Big Trout Lake and Sioux Lookout.^[2]

From then on, other scheduled flights were progressively added, first to Thunder Bay, followed by Kenora and Winnipeg. This was also the period when the Government of Ontario began constructing new airfields that would make the northern communities accessible year-round. Therefore in the late 1970s to the early 1980s, Bearskin made the transition of bush planes to wheeled commuter planes.^[2]

Following the collapse of NorOntair in 1996, Bearskin picked up over two thirds of that carrier's routes, thereby adding scheduled service to all the major northern Ontario cities. Three years later, it expanded operations to destinations in northern Manitoba. In 2003, it sold their routes and assets servicing northern First Nations communities to Wasaya Airways. This marked as a break with their bush flying background to focus on becoming a regional carrier.^[2]

It is owned by Harvey Friesen (President), Cliff Friesen (Executive Vice-President), Karl Friesen (Vice President of Operations), Rick Baratta (Vice President of Finance) and Brad Martin (Director of Operations) and has 240 employees^[1].

[edit] Destinations

Bearskin Airlines operates services to the following Canadian domestic scheduled destinations (as of January 2008):^[3]

Bearskin Airlines Destinations
City	Airport	Notes
Ontario
Dryden	Dryden Regional Airport
Fort Frances	Fort Frances Municipal Airport
Kapuskasing	Kapuskasing Airport
Kenora	Kenora Airport
Regional Municipality of Waterloo	Region of Waterloo International Airport
North Bay	North Bay/Jack Garland Airport
Ottawa	Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport
Red Lake	Red Lake Airport
Sault Ste. Marie	Sault Ste. Marie Airport
Sioux Lookout	Sioux Lookout Airport
Sudbury	Sudbury Airport
Thunder Bay	Thunder Bay International Airport
Timmins	Timmins Airport
Manitoba
Flin Flon	Flin Flon Airport
Lynn Lake	Lynn Lake Airport
The Pas	The Pas Airport
Winnipeg	Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport

[edit] Routes

Leaving From:	Going To:
Flin Flon, MB	Lynn Lake MB, The Pas, Winnipeg Mb.
Lynn Lake, MB	Flin Flon, MB
The Pas, MB	Flin Flon, MB and Winnipeg, MB
Winnipeg, MB	Flin Flon, MB, The Pas, MB, Kenora, ON, Red Lake, ON
Red Lake, ON	Winnipeg, MB, Sioux Lookout, ON, Dryden, ON
Kenora, ON	Dryden, ON, Winnipeg, Fort Frances, ON
Dryden, ON	Kenora, ON, Red Lake, ON, Sioux Lookout, ON, Thunder Bay, ON
Sioux Lookout, ON	Thunder Bay, ON, Red Lake, ON, Dryden, ON,
Fort Frances, ON	Thunder Bay, ON, Kenora, ON,
Thunder Bay, ON	Fort Frances, ON, Sioux Lookout, ON, Sault Ste. Marie, ON, Sudbury, ON, Dryden, ON,
Sault Ste. Marie, ON,	Thunder Bay, ON, Sudbury, ON
Kapuskasing, ON,	Timmins, ON
Timmins, ON,	Kapuskasing, ON, Sudbury, ON
Sudbury, ON,	Thunder Bay, ON, Sault Ste. Marie, ON, Ottawa, ON, North Bay, ON,
North Bay, ON,	Ottawa, ON, Sudbury, ON,
Ottawa, ON,	Sudbury, ON, Kitchener/Waterloo, ON, North Bay, ON
Kitchener/Waterloo, ON,	Ottawa, ON,

As of October 1, 2007 Bearskin launched a three time/day service from the Regional Municipality of Waterloo to Ottawa with a 3-trip return each day as well.

[edit] Fleet

Bearskin Airlines' Metroliner

Bearskin Metroliner at dusk

The Bearskin Airlines fleet includes the following aircraft (as of July 2009):^[4]

14 Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner

[edit] Previously operated

Bearskin Airlines has flown the following aircraft in the past:^[2]

Beechcraft 18
Beechcraft 99 (still owned but leased out)
Beechcraft King Air 100 (still owned but leased out)
Cessna 180
Cessna 185
De Havilland DHC-2 Beaver
de Havilland DHC-3 Otter
Noorduyn Norseman
Pilatus PC-12
Piper Aztec
Piper Navajo and Navajo Chieftain

[edit] Affinity Programs

The airline offers Aeroplan rewards points, both to collect and to redeem.

[edit] References

^ ^a ^b "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International: p. 84. 2007-03-27.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Bearskin Airlines, Bear Country: Special 45th Anniversary Issue, 2008, ISBN D702544
^ Reservations
^ Bearskin Airlines aircraft

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Bearskin Airlines

Bearskin Airlines

[FI-0] "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International: p. 84. 2007-03-27.

[BC45-1] Bearskin Airlines, Bear Country: Special 45th Anniversary Issue, 2008, ISBN D702544

[2] Reservations

[3] Bearskin Airlines aircraft

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

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