Great Lakes Helicopter helps Canadian snowbirds fly south
By Lisa Gordon | December 10, 2020
Estimated reading time 7 minutes, 29 seconds.
In normal times, as many as 375,000 Canadian “snowbirds” wing their way to the southern U.S. and Mexico each winter.
Great Lakes Helicopter is currently using two Robinson R44s to offer nine daily flights between Hamilton, Ontario, and Buffalo, New York. Mike Reyno Photo
This year, many of those travellers have decided to stay closer to home as the Covid-19 pandemic continues to rage, and with a large-scale vaccination program set to begin any day.
Still other snowbirds are determined to chase the sun, no matter what. With the Canada-U.S. land border closed to all non-essential travel, they’re faced with two choices: buy an airline ticket and risk exposure to the virus, or arrange a private flight. Many are choosing the latter option, creating opportunity for aircraft charter operators who are looking for new business streams in c