Mont Tremblant to get daily flight from Newark

MIKE KING, The Gazette - July 19, 2007

Thousands more U.S. tourists are expected to descend on Mont Tremblant this winter when Continental Airlines begins daily non-stop service to the Laurentians resort area from its New York hub at Newark Liberty International Airport.

The world's fifth-largest carrier announced yesterday the seasonal, 50-seat round-trip service to Mont Tremblant International Airport is to begin Dec. 14 and continue through April 5.

"It's a great boost for Tremblant and an important first step to increasing accessibility to the resort long term," Andy Wirth, executive vice-president of sales and marketing for resort-operator Intrawest Corp., said yesterday during his first visit to the area.

The recently named chief marketing officer told The Gazette that having non-stop daily service to the Steamboat Mountain Resort in Colorado, where he is based, "was probably the No. 1 contributor to its success." Tremblant and Steamboat are two of 10 North American resorts run by Intrawest, which was bought last fall by U.S. asset-management firm Fortress Investment Group LLC.

"We think it will have tremendous appeal for people in the New York area," Continental spokesperson Mary Clark said from headquarters in Houston, noting Tremblant has been voted the No. 1 ski resort in the east by readers of Ski Magazine the past 10 years.

She pointed out the new flights will incorporate connections from throughout the U.S. northeast, midwest and other regions served by the airline.

Similarly, Tremblant airport president Serge Lariviere said the deal will give people using his facility access to Continental's network of 144 domestic and 138 international destinations via New York.

Continental, along with its Continental Express and Continental Connection, offers more than 400 daily departures to 155 non-stop destinations around the globe.

The Laurentians airport - which features the world's only log-house terminal - is the former landing strip of an abandoned military base in the tiny town of La Macaza, about 35 kilometres north of Mont Tremblant.

Clark said the price for return-flight fares hasn't yet been set.

Lariviere said the first commercial agreement with his airport was reached when a public-private consortium offered Continental a $420,000 guarantee to cover the airline's operating cost risk for entering the new market.

The money was collected into the recently created Fonds regional de developpement des services aeriens Hautes-Laurentides.

Fund spokesman Paul Calce said the major contributors are the town of Mont Tremblant, the Mont Tremblant resort, the development departments of the municipal regional councils of both the Laurentides and neighbouring Antoine-Labelle, and the non-profit Association de villegiature Tremblant, which represents more than 1,800 residential and commercial property owners as well as promoters and developers on the resort site.

Calce explained in a statement that the main goals of the airline pact are to diversify the existing destination market and increase the average stay of visitors.