The provincial government announced they are "winding down" their Executive Air Service as of Thursday (March 16). 

In a media release, the government says the service, which was used by the Lieutenant Governor, the Premier, Cabinet Minsters, MLAs and other, senior government officials, has "decreased drastically in recent years."

They say usage is down from 595 trips in 2006-07 to 165 trips in 2016-17, and mileage is down 73%.  

“The use of Executive Air has dropped dramatically over the past decade but overhead costs have remained high,” Central Services Minister Christine Tell said.  “It just doesn’t make sense in these challenging fiscal times to continue paying those high overhead costs when there are viable commercial options available in Saskatchewan to meet government travel needs.”

The release adds that "elected officials and the Lieutenant Governor will now travel by vehicle or use commercial and charter flight services when air travel is required to attend meetings and events around the province."

The move comes less than a week ahead of the provincial budget, with the government trying to find ways to whittle down an expected deficit of at least $1.2 billion.