Charlottetown hotels launch shuttle service to airport

Starting Wednesday, passengers arriving at Charlottetown Airport will be able to hop on a shuttle for transportation to 12 hotels in the city.

John Cudmore, president of the Hotel Association of Prince Edward Island, said with the increase in the number of flights coming into the airport as pandemic restrictions ease, and a shortage of ground transportation away from the airport, establishing a shuttle made sense.

"We're hearing from our guests that they're having trouble getting transportation into the city from the airport, and we all know we're hearing about the car rental shortage," Cudmore said.

"We're going to start off with one shuttle," he said. "We have no idea what the traction will be for it. There's certain days when there's a lot of people arriving at the Charlottetown airport, and it's key that we have some way of getting them to Charlottetown."

To start with, the service will run Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., to match peak flight times at the airport. The fare will be $6 per person or $20 per family.

The service will cover five hotels on Capital Drive and seven in the downtown.

"A hotel shuttle service is something that's sort of customary or normal at the larger airports, and people almost expect there to be an option to get downtown through some sort of shuttle service," said Charlottetown Airport CEO Doug Newson.

"We'll still have taxis available, and we know a lot of people will use the taxi service, but the shuttle service will be there for those that are heading to a hotel in the Charlottetown area and would like that option."

The initial plan is for the service to run until Sept. 4.

The pilot project is a partnership of the hotel association, the City of Charlottetown, the Charlottetown Airport Authority and Coach Atlantic, which will supply the vehicles and drivers.