AIR Jamaica yesterday resumed daily non-stop flights to Canada, after a 14-year break, with officials holding high expectations that the national airline’s return to that route would be warmly welcomed by Jamaicans living in that country.

“Our expectations are high,” the airline’s chairman, Gordon “Butch” Stewart, told the Observer yesterday before boarding the first flight to Toronto. “.so far, we are off to a fine start and we hope to have two flights per day,” he added.

Air Jamaica’s return to Canada was marked with a full flight out of Kingston yesterday with all 188 seats – 12 first-class and 176 economy seats – on the Airbus A321 occupied.

The passengers also included Prime Minister P J Patterson, whose itinerary includes a meeting with Canada’s foreign minister, Bill Graham. He will also address guests at a reception hosted by Air Jamaica in celebration of the airline’s resumption of service to Toronto, and will be special guest at a reception hosted by Jamaican-Canadian billionaire, Michael Lee Chin and meet with Jamaicans living in Toronto at a book launch at the Jamaica Canada Association.

Also on the flight were transport and works minister, Robert Pickersgill; state minister in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Delano Franklyn; tourism minister, Aloun Assamba tourism director, Paul Pennicook and Air Jamaica CEO, Chris Zacca.

The Jamaica Labour Party’s shadow minister on transport and works, Mike Henry, as well as other officials from the government, tourism ministry, Air Jamaica, the Canadian High Commission and a handful of local journalists also made the trip.

Air Jamaica has not flown to Canada since March of 1990 when, under government ownership, it cut its loss-making service to Toronto and entered a code share agreement with Air Canada.

With Canada being one of Jamaica’s largest tourist markets and Toronto, a city of 4.7 million people, having large pockets of Jamaicans, the airline is hoping that a mix of tourists and ethnic travellers will prove a profitable combination.

“It has always been a tough market. a price-sensitive market,” he said. “It’s a market that everybody fights down to the last bone and so far we have taken our time going into it,” Stewart said yesterday.

At the same time, Stewart said the national airline still maintained its good relationship with Air Canada, noting that an expanded code share arrangement between the airlines will see both carriers selling seats on each other’s flights between Toronto-Kingston and Toronto-Montego Bay. Although Air Jamaica does not fly to Montego Bay, it has seats on Air Canada flights for passengers going into the second city.

“We have an arrangement with Air Canada so we don’t have to be fighting and killing each other to see how much money ‘we can lose,’ which is a typical airline approach and we have also worked out an arrangement for the Easter holidays,” said the airline chairman.

Yesterday Prime Minister P J Patterson, who officially removed the chock from the airline’s wheels, said he was pleased that the “Lovebird” will once again connect Jamaica and Canada.

Said Patterson: “After nearly 14 years, it is good that the Lovebird will be seen once again in Toronto. May it take our friends, relatives, business partners and visitors safely between Jamaica and Canada as we build on the friendship between our two great peoples and nations.”

Monsignor Richard Albert, who blessed the Airbus before its departure, prayed that all on board would reach their destination safely. “Let no adversity harm them,” he said. “May they travel unharmed.”