Canadian Airline Series: Canadian North

Today’s topic is the first of a series of posts, every Tuesday, outlining some of the smaller airlines in Canada, namely excluding Air Canada, Porter Airlines and WestJet Airlines.

Over the weekend, I was attempting to create a good air travel strategy for my brother who recently moved to London (Ontario) for work and has been driving back almost every weekend to see the family. My research turned into a more detailed one as I realized that there are a huge number of smaller sized airlines in Canada which fly to less populated cities in the country. I will be writing a series of posts introducing these smaller airlines and mention any frequent flyer programs associated with them.

This first post will recap the Canadian North airline, which is an airline headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Its major hub is the Yellowknife Airport. It mainly operates services to major communities in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.

Canadian North Route Map

Airport Destinations
Ottawa (Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport)
  • Iqaluit (Iqaluit Airport)
Iqaluit (Iqaluit Airport)
  • Pangnirtung (Pangnirtung Airport)
  • Clyde River (Clyde River Airport)
  • Igloolik (Igloolik Airport)
  • Hall Beach (Hall Beach Airport)
  • Rankin Inlet (Rankin Inlet Airport)
  • Cape Dorset (Cap Dorset Airport)
Pangnirtung (Pangnirtung Airport)
  • Qikiqtarjuaq (Qikiqtarjuaq Airport)
  • Iqaluit (Iqaluit Airport)
Clyde River (Clyde River Airport)
  • Pond Inlet (Pond Inlet Airport)
  • Iqaluit (Iqaluit Airport)
Igloolik (Igloolik Airport)
  • Pond Inlet (Pond Inlet Airport)
  • Hall Beach (Hall Beach Airport)
Yellowknife (Yellowknife Airport)
  • Edmonton (Edmonton International Airport)
  • Norman Wells (Norman Wells Airport)
  • Kugluktuk (Kugluktuk Airport)
  • Cambridge Bay (Cambridge Bay Airport)
  • Taloyoak (Taloyoak Airport)
  • Gjoa Haven (Gjoa Haven Airport)
  • Rankin Inlet (Rankin Inlet Airport)
Edmonton (Edmonton International Airport)
  • Inuvik (Inuvik Airport)
  • Norman Wells (Norman Wells Airport)
  • Yellowknife (Yellowknife Airport)
Norman Wells (Norman Wells Airport)
  • Inuvik (Inuvik Airport)
  • Yellowknife (Yellowknife Airport)
Cambridge Bay (Cambridge Bay Airport)
  • Kugluktuk (Kugluktuk Airport)
  • Yellowknife (Yellowknife Airport)
  • Kugaaruk (Kugaaruk Airport)
  • Taloyoak (Taloyoak Airport)
  • Gjoa Haven (Gjoa Haven Airport)
Kugaaruk (Kugaaruk Airport)
  • Cambridge Bay (Cambridge Bay Airport)
  • Taloyoak (Taloyoak Airport)
  • Gjoa Haven (Gjoa Haven)
Rankin Inlet (Rankin Inlet)
  • Yellowknife (Yellowknife Airport)
  • Iqaluit (Iqaluit Airport)

auora-rewards-1

Canadian North offers both Aeroplan rewards points both to collect and to redeem. Passengers can redeem Air Miles points for travel on Canadian North.

Canadian North travels to many of the larger airports in Canada such as the Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport (YOW) and Montreal-Pierre Elliot Trudeau International Airport (YUL). If you’re looking for a direct flight from Ottawa to the North, such as Iqaluit, Canadian North offers those services.

Aurora Rewards

Canadian North also offers its own loyalty program called the Aurora Rewards that has an elite status program called Aurora Concierge. Some of the benefits of holding a Aurora Concierge elite status are the following: priority check-in, priority boarding, extra checked baggage, free alcoholic beverages, no fee changes. Another great benefit is that Aurora Concierge loyalty members have access to Air Canada’s Maple Leaf Lounges.

Elite Status

There are three elite status with Aurora Concierge: Silver, Gold, Diamond:
Canadian North (Aurora Rewards) (2)

Silver (12 qualifying one-way flights in one calendar year)
  • Priority security line access – Complimentary inflight drinks
  • Receive extra 5% Aurora Rewards bonus points when you book with Canadian North
Gold (20 qualifying one-way flights in one calendar year)
  • Priority security line access – Complimentary inflight drinks
  • Priority boarding and check in
  • Waived change fees
  • Access to exclusive Aurora Concierge help line
  • Exclusive travel offers
  • Extra piece of checked baggage free
  • Receive extra 10% Aurora Rewards bonus points when you book with Canadian North
Diamond (30 qualifying one-way flights in one calendar year)
  • Priority security line access – Complimentary inflight drinks
  • Priority boarding and check in
  • Waived change fees
  • Access to exclusive Aurora Concierge help line
  • Exclusive travel offers
  • Extra piece of checked baggage free
  • Invitation to exclusive member events
  • Receive special appreciation gift each year
  • Receive extra 15% Aurora Rewards bonus points when you book with Canadian North

There are two ways to earn Aurora Concierge membership; you will need Qualifying Points (QPs) or Qualifying Segments (QSs):

Canadian North (Aurora Rewards) (3)

2 Comments

  1. Wow, this is so inaccurate as to be farcical. Canadian North only operates scheduled service to two southern airports – Ottawa and Edmonton. All the other destinations are in the NWT or Nunavut. Elsewhere, they either codeshare or operate charter flights, for example from the Maritimes to the oil sands.
    If you don’t believe me, check out their route map: http://www.canadiannorth.com/route-map (which is slightly out of date) and http://www.canadiannorth.com/info/codeshare (which is current)

    1. Hi Thomas, thank you for pointing that out and I apologize for the misunderstanding with the Canadian North codeshare destinations. It has been clarified in the post now.

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