Skyservice Airlines Inc. was a

charter airline Air charter is the business of renting an entire aircraft (i.e., chartering) as opposed to individual aircraft seats (i.e., purchasing a ticket through a traditional airline). Regulation Charter – also called air taxi or ad hoc – flight ...

(Skyservice Airlines) based in

Etobicoke Etobicoke (, ) is an administrative district and former city within Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Comprising the city's west end, Etobicoke is bordered on the south by Lake Ontario, on the east by the Humber River (Ontario), Humber River, on the ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada. It employed more than 2,000 people. Skyservice Airlines Inc. flew within Canada and to the United States,

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

, Mexico,

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

, Israel and Europe. During the summer, Skyservice sold tickets to Europe from Toronto using a Boeing 757-200WL. It also used an

Airbus A330-300 The Airbus A330 is a wide-body airliner developed and produced by Airbus. Airbus began developing larger A300 derivatives in the mid–1970s, giving rise to the A330 twinjet as well as the Airbus A340 quadjet, and launched both designs along ...

for other chartered flights to Europe from Canada. Scheduled services to some destinations were offered during the summer season. Skyservice offered online-booking for those who wished to travel on Skyservice's scheduled destinations in the summer. Skyservice Airlines began operations in 1994. Skyservice was forced into

receivership In law, receivership is a situation in which an institution or enterprise is held by a receiver – a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights" – especia ...

on March 31, 2010, as a result of a near $9 million debt to its long-term partner Sunquest Vacations. As a result, Skyservice abruptly ceased operations. Roughly 860 jobs were expected to be lost.

History

The airline was started in 1986. On May 2, 2005, Skyservice introduced the first of two

Boeing 767-300 The Boeing 767 is an American wide-body airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The aircraft was launched as the 7X7 program on July 14, 1978, the prototype first flew on September 26, 1981, and it was certified ...

aircraft to its fleet, the first of which entered service on that date with a flight from

Puerto Vallarta Puerto Vallarta ( or simply Vallarta) is a Mexican resort city near the Bahía de Banderas on the Pacific coast of the Mexico, Mexican state of Jalisco. Puerto Vallarta is the second largest urban agglomeration in the state after the Guadalajara ...

. The aircraft (both formerly with

MyTravel Airways MyTravel Airways Limited was a British scheduled and air charter, charter airline with headquarters in Manchester, England. It operated worldwide holiday charter services mainly for its parent company, the MyTravel Group. The airline merged wit ...

) operated summer charters from Toronto to the United Kingdom and Europe for Sunquest Vacations, and in the winter flew from

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

to the

and Mexico. It was one of the few discount airlines operating in Canada which still offered full meal service. On August 28, 2007, it was announced that Skyservice had sold a majority interest in its airlines business to Vancouver-based private equity company Gibralt Capital Corp. No changes in senior management, operations or staffing levels were planned. In March 2009, Skyservice partnered with Inflite Media to offer tray table advertising across its fleet of aircraft, the first such advertising network available in Canada. Skyservice was forced into receivership on March 31, 2010, as a result of an $8.8 million debt to its long-term partner Sunquest Vacations. The last Skyservice flight, from

Punta Cana Punta Cana is a resort town in the easternmost region of the Dominican Republic. It was politically incorporated as the "Verón–Punta Cana township" in 2006, and it is subject to the municipality of Higüey (La Altagracia Province). According ...

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

, took place on the same day. The private charter portion of the airline continues to operate today under Skyservice Business Aviation with fixed base operations in Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Calgary.

Fleet

The Skyservice fleet consisted of the following aircraft on 20 November 2009:Skyservice Fleet - CH Aviation
/ref> SSV752atgate

Historical fleet

Boeing 767 The Boeing 767 is an American wide-body airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The aircraft was launched as the 7X7 program on July 14, 1978, the prototype first flew on September 26, 1981, and it was certified ...

-300 *4

Airbus A319 The Airbus A319 is a member of the Airbus A320 family of short- to medium-range, narrow-body, commercial passenger twin-engine jet airliners manufactured by Airbus. The A319 carries 124 to 156 passengers and has a maximum range of . Final ass ...

Airbus A330 The Airbus A330 is a wide-body airliner developed and produced by Airbus. Airbus began developing larger A300 derivatives in the mid–1970s, giving rise to the A330 twinjet as well as the Airbus A340 quadjet, and launched both designs along ...

-300

Classes

*Economy Class *Star Class *Superior Class *Premier Class

Awards and recognition

Skyservice was recognized for its exceptional safety record during its 25 years of operation, distinguishable by the highest Platinum rating awarded to Skyservice by the Aviation Research Group/US - North America's most rigid rating for operational safety.

Skyservice Business Aviation

While the airline ceased operations, the business aviation section remains in operation today in Toronto, Ottawa, Calgary and Montreal.

References

External links

"Ex-pilot wins $3M defamation award"Official websiteSkyservice fleetSkyservice Pilots' Association of Canada
{{Authority control Air Transport Association of Canada Airlines established in 1986 Airlines disestablished in 2010 Companies based in Etobicoke Defunct airlines of Canada 1986 establishments in Ontario 2010 disestablishments in Ontario