WestJet flew out of Lethbridge for the last time on June 24. The airport is still open. The runway is still active. But if you live in Lethbridge and need to catch a flight, you are now driving to Calgary first.
The airline ended its once-daily Calgary route as part of a broader strategic overhaul of its 2026 schedule, citing insufficient demand. The decision announced in February as a complete bombshell to Mayor Blaine Hyggen left Lethbridge without any scheduled commercial passenger service for the first time in decades.
"It's a little frustrating," Hyggen said when the departure was announced. "You build a community, and communities our size are built on infrastructure like airports. It puts a community at the next level."
What Lethbridge Airport actually is
Lethbridge Regional Airport YQL is a municipally owned airport the City of Lethbridge took over from Lethbridge County in 2018. Since 2022 the city has invested in more than $25 million in terminal and infrastructure renovations 93 percent came from provincial and federal grants, with the city contributing $2.6 million from its capital budget. The airport sits on 1,400 acres of city-owned land south of the city.
In 2025 the airport averaged approximately 100 movements per day medevac flights, charter operations, RCMP aviation, flight training, agricultural aviation, and private aircraft. WestJet's scheduled service made up just 717 of 33,366 total flight movements at YQL last year. Two percent.
Lethbridge is not losing an airport. It is losing one commercial carrier that represented two percent of its flight activity.
What the city is doing
City council approved the 2026 Airport Workplan immediately after WestJet's departure was announced. The plan includes a regional YQL marketing campaign to attract carriers, tools to bring in additional air services, land use opportunities on the 1,400 acres of city-owned airport land, and steps to stabilize airport reserves. A motion to increase Workplan funding by $2 million was defeated at council.
Airport manager Cameron Prince confirmed the city is in active talks with carriers. "We are in talks with airlines pretty consistently right now and I will say we are optimistic there will be something in the future. We're just not sure what the timeline will be."
No staff layoffs are planned. The city is managing through attrition.
Mayor Hyggen has also been in contact with Medicine Hat Mayor Linnsie Clark about a joint southern Alberta approach a combined regional pitch may be stronger than two cities pitching separately for the same pool of regional operators.
The province's $5 million backstop
The Government of Alberta has issued a Request for Expressions of Interest seeking carriers interested in providing scheduled regional air service across the province. Submissions close July 6, 2026.
Provincial documents confirm Alberta is willing to spend up to $5 million over two years to underwrite carriers who agree to operate regional routes. That money is designed to absorb the financial risk that has historically made routes like Lethbridge-Calgary unviable for carriers operating on passenger revenue alone.
Lethbridge has been here before
This is not the first time Lethbridge has lost commercial air service and had to start over.
Air Canada's regional carrier ended service in early 2020. Then in 2022, Flair Airlines announced a Lethbridge to Tucson, Arizona route that generated real local excitement. It never launched. In October 2024, WestJet reduced its daily Lethbridge flights from three to one — a move that looked like consolidation but turned out to be the beginning of the end. Four months later, the airline announced it was leaving entirely.
Three airlines in six years. Each departure left the same gap and the same question: who comes next?
"If you don't use it, you lose it," Hyggen said after the WestJet announcement. The airport spent $25 million on renovations since 2022 partly to attract and retain commercial service. It attracted one carrier. That carrier just left.
The provincial underwriting model is designed to break that cycle. Whether it does will depend on whether any carrier sees a viable business in Lethbridge once the financial risk is reduced. The July 6 deadline is the first real answer to that question.
If you need to fly out of Lethbridge right now
Drive to Calgary International Airport. The distance from downtown Lethbridge to YYC is approximately 215 kilometres — about two hours in normal conditions.
For updates on the airport and the carrier search visit lethbridge.ca.
We covered the WestJet departure from both Lethbridge and Medicine Hat when flights ended at culturealberta.com/articles/westjets-last-flights-out-of-lethbridge-and-medicine-hat-are-june-24-neither-city-has-a-replacement.
Sources:
City of Lethbridge, The FAQ on YQL (lethbridge.ca/news/posts/the-faq-on-yql)
City of Lethbridge, 2026 Airport Workplan, approved February 2026
