It's exciting times at Canadian startup Lynx Air, with new routes coming thick and fast. Yesterday, Lynx Air's first flight from Victoria International Airport (YYJ) departed at 12:38 and arrived at Calgary International Airport (YYC) one minute early at 14:42.

The outbound flight, Y9120, left Calgary at 11:21 and landed in Victoria at 11:34. Flightradar24.com data shows that a Boeing B737 MAX 8, registration C-FULI, operated the 450 miles (730 kilometers) route.

Victoria and Vancouver Island are connecting with Lynx

Initially, the Calgary-Victoria-Calgary service will operate twice weekly on Thursday and Sunday. From June 29, the frequency increases three weekly on Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday. With summer demand growing, Lynx will offer 1,100 seats per week on this popular route.

Lynx Air CEO Merren McArthur welcomed the opportunity to bring ultra-affordable fares to the community of Victoria and Vancouver Island.

"Whether you are traveling to connect with friends and family, explore the beautiful coastline of Vancouver Island or take in the vibrant culture and historic architecture of the Garden City, Lynx will ensure a great flying experience at an ultra-affordable price."

Lynx calls itself an ultra-reliable airline with ultra-affordable fares, evoking a softer and more unique feel than the ultra-low-cost carrier or ULCC label. For McArthur, it must be a nice contrast from the hurly-burly of running Tigerair Australia, Australia's ULCC, before being closed by parent Virgin Australia in 2020.

Before taking over as CEO in 2018, she spent ten years at Virgin Australia, serving as CEO of Virgin Australia Regional Airlines and CEO of Virgin Australia Cargo. In 2019, as Virgin Australia started the slide into bankruptcy, McArthur stepped down from the Tigerair role and joined Lynx Air in late 2021.

She is widely recognized for encouraging women into aviation, and under her leadership, Tigerair had the largest population of female pilots and employees across all of Australia's airlines.

Lynx is adding more trans-Canada routes with the 737 MAX

Lynx is using its young fleet of three Boeing B737 MAX 8 to open new routes across Canada. Its longest flight is from Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) to Vancouver International Airport (YVR). The B737 MAX 8 takes around 4:30 hours to cover the 2,100 miles (3,400 kilometers).

The airline says it plans to grow its fleet to more than 46 aircraft over the next five to seven years. It is certainly utilizing the advantages of its existing B737 MAXs as it continues to add news services from the Pacific to the Atlantic coasts.

This week Lynx also announced new routes connecting St. John's, Newfoundland, to Calgary and Edmonton. These will be from Calgary and Edmonton but will be 'through-flights,' meaning they will stop in Toronto on the way. Flights to St. John's will start from Toronto on June 28, from Edmonton on July 14 and from Calgary on July 16.

As Lynx ramps up its summer schedules, it now has tickets on sale for ten destinations coast to coast across Canada. These are Calgary, Edmonton, Victoria, Vancouver, Kelowna, Winnipeg, Toronto, Hamilton, Halifax and St. John's.