The Globe and Mail reports in its Monday edition that passengers are not the only ones feeling cramped these days. A Canadian Press dispatch to The Globe says that although Canadian flights have long been dominated by Air Canada and WestJet, the emergence of newer carriers including Flair Airlines and Lynx Air has shaken up the sector, injecting fresh competition to a once-complacent market. Most airlines are setting plans in motion to expand over the next year, adding more planes to an already crowded field -- and cheaper fares on the busiest routes. Key domestic arteries such as Toronto-Vancouver, Vancouver-Calgary and Montreal-Toronto host more airlines than ever -- up to six now compared with as few as two several years ago -- with fares dragged down by a pair of budget carriers. The cost of a domestic round-trip plane ticket fell to $289 on average this fall, a drop of 24 per cent from 2019 levels and 11 per cent from a year ago, according to travel-booking app Hopper Inc. The hub-to-hub rivalries within Canada come ahead of a battle over routes running from big cities to sun destinations this winter. More than three-quarters of the trips by Flair this winter will be to the U.S. Sun Belt, Mexico and the Caribbean.