OWG aiming to "reinvent the travel experience" with new flights to Mexico, DR & Jamaica

The Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) has approved licences for Quebec-based airline OWG to operate scheduled international service (large aircraft) to three new destinations: Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica. 

In an email to PAX on Tuesday morning (July 27), Marco Prud'Homme, president of OWG (which stands for "Off We Go") said the company's plan is to "reinvent the travel experience." 

"We have specific plans for each of the destinations and will gradually announce them when the time comes," Mr. Prud'Homme wrote in French. 

OWG fleet's currently has two Boeing 737-400s in operation and a third will be added to the company's fleet in December, Prud'Homme said. 

For the moment, OWG's aircraft are flying weekly for charter flights in Canada "pending a relaxation of the measures," he said. 

"Our crews have had the opportunity to work for months in a pandemic context and we are able to fully understand and respond to the concerns of travellers," Prud'Homme wrote. 

Licence granted

In a recent notice posted to its website, the CTA appears convinced that the Nolinor Aviation (which OWG is a subsidiary of) meets all the applicable conditions of the Canada Transportation Act. 

The licence granted is, however, subject to the conditions prescribed by the Air Transport Regulations as well as to the following:

• The licencee is authorized to operate scheduled international service on the route set out in the Agreement between the Government of Canada and the Governments of the three countries concerned.
• Regular international service must be operated in accordance with the Agreement and any applicable agreements concluded between Canada and the three states concerned.

Building on U.S., Cuba flights 

Last March, the CTA also granted Nolinor/OWG authorization to operate regular international services between Canada and the United States. 

However, OWG has not yet publicly stated which U.S. destinations it will serve. 

So far, OWG has only offered flights to Cuba, in a partnership with Caribe Sol / Hola Sun from Montreal and Toronto. 

READ MORE: CTA gives OWG green light to operate Canada-U.S. flights

The company was only able to offer these flights briefly, starting in December 2020, before having to suspend its service due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Jan 25, 2021, OWG (which stands for “Off We Go”) temporarily suspended flights due to drops in demand stemming from Canada’s then-new measures aimed at discouraging non-essential air travel.

From its inception, OWG evoked the objective of flying to destinations in the South (and not only Cuba). 

Recently, the company retained the services of the TACT agency to ensure its messages were properly communicated.

"We have some great announcements in the coming months," Prud'Homme told PAX in a previous statement. 

OWG's parent company, Nolinor, presents itself as "the largest air transport company specializing in commercial charter flights in Canada," mainly offering services to the Far North.

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