Sunworshippers can Swoop in for hot deals at Hamilton airport

By J.P. Antonacci, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Hamilton Spectator

“Key Largo, Montego, baby, why don’t we go?” sang the Beach Boys in “Kokomo,” their ode to sunny getaways.

Were Mike Love and his bandmates looking to fly south from Hamilton airport this winter, they could book with Swoop, a low-cost carrier offering 24 weekly flights to sunny destinations in the Caribbean, Mexico and the United States.

Back on the schedule as of this Saturday are non-stop flights from John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport to Montego Bay, Jamaica, with round-trip tickets available for under $400.

“With demand for leisure travel at an all-time high across Canada, we are excited to be leading the ultra-low-cost airline market for sun flying, enabling Hamiltonians to escape to warmer climates this winter,” Swoop president Bob Cummings said in a release.

Swoop customers also have access to discounts at destination resorts through the airline and WestJet Vacations, Cummings noted.

The low-cost airline — which formed in 2018 as a subsidiary of WestJet — began offering non-stop flights to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, last month.

New Year’s Day was the busiest day in the airline’s history, as Swoop moved more than 10,200 passengers on 64 flights throughout North America and the Caribbean.

Hamiltonians looking to work on their tans can also escape to Florida, Las Vegas, and the Mexican resort destinations of Cancun and Puerto Vallarta on Swoop.

Hamilton’s airport is a springboard for sunworshippers, as Sunwing also offers weekly non-stop flights to sunny climes until mid-April.

Based on customer preference, Sunwing dropped Montego Bay from its direct-flight itinerary but added two Cuban destinations — Varadero and Holguin — to a list that already included Cayo Coco in Cuba and Punta Cana.

Speaking with The Spectator late last year, Andrew Dawson, president of tour operations for Sunwing, said the airline was already seeing “incredible demand” for winter travel, “with overall capacity well over double that of the previous winter season.”