Friday’s first international flight from the Portland International Jetport in three years was postponed as Elite Airways dealt with a computer glitch. The airline canceled its morning inaugural flight to Halifax, Nova Scotia, at the last minute because of a technical issue between U.S. and Canadian reservation systems, said Rebecca Ayers, a spokeswoman for the airline.
“It is disappointing news, this was supposed to be the start of our first international service to Canada,” Ayers said. “It was unexpected and very unfortunate.”
All passengers were contacted and refunded or booked for a later date, Ayers said. The airline hopes to work out the problems and launch its new service on July 13.
“We are hoping to have it back up in the next week, week and a half,” Ayers said.
Ayers would not say how many customers were affected by the canceled flights. The 50-seat jet is scheduled to fly between Portland and Halifax twice a week on Thursdays and Sundays, with connecting flights to Sarasota, Florida.
When it announced the new service in May, Elite planned to have a three-day schedule, on Fridays, Sundays and Wednesdays. At the time, it said one-way tickets were about $169.
The Halifax route will be the first international service from Portland since AirCanada stopped its service to Toronto in 2014.
Elite Airways has expanded its services from the Portland jetport since 2015, offering direct flights to Melbourne and Sarasota, Florida. Last fall, it introduced service to Long Island, New York and Bar Harbor.
Peter McGuire can be reached at 791-6325 or at:
pmcguire@pressherald.com
Twitter: @PeteL_McGuire
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