Elliot-Lake based airline to purchase Thunder Airlines

Just two months after Thunder Bay's Bearskin Airlines announced it was being purchased by a Winnipeg-based company, another locally-based airline is being taken over by one of its competitors.

Officials with Thunder Airlines confirm that they are about to become part of Air Bravo.

Both companies provide medical transport and charter flight services. Air Bravo, based out of Elliot Lake, has entered into a purchase agreement that would see the company take over all of Thunder Airlines operations by the end of the year.

Thunder Airlines president and part-owner Ken Bittle said the move is good news for both customers and employees.

Thunder Airlines has been serving Thunder Bay and Timmins since 1994, while Air Bravo has been around since 2001.

Air Bravo representatives were not available for comment on the deal Thursday, but Bittle says he's been told that all of Thunder Airlines' 80-plus employees will be retained by Air Bravo after the sale.