Eastern Provincial Airways, also known as EPA, was an airline that operated in Atlantic and eastern Canada. At its peak, the carrier operated jet service with Boeing 737-200 aircraft connecting many communities that today only have scheduled passenger flights provided by 18-seat commuter turboprop aircraft. The airline traces its history from Maritime Central Airways (MCA) from 1961. It merged with CP Air to form Canadian Pacific Airlines in 1986. History Eastern Provincial Airways began operations from St. John's, Newfoundland in 1949 acquiring and reorganizing the Newfoundland Aero Sales and Services. Early air services, like those of MCA, included a mixed bag of ambulance and mail services, cargo, charters, and forest and ice patrols, but would evolve into a modern air traffic carrier twenty years later. The company was founded with a Noorduyn Norseman aircraft by Eric Blackwood, a bush pilot and Royal Canadian Air Force veteran from World War II. Blackwood had the backing of St. John's businessman C.A. Crosbie. The purchase of a PBY Canso amphibian aircraft in 1953 allowed EPA to take larger charter jobs, and a converted Canso allowed water-bombing flights on behalf of the government. In 1954, EPA moved its headquarters from St. John's to the now bustling international aviation hub in Gander where EPA planes mingled with the likes of Pan American and BOAC en route to or from Europe. But EPA's work still consisted mostly of a wide variety of government contracts. In Gander, EPA set up administrative offices and a maintenance hangar and with the addition of larger Douglas DC-3s and Lockheed Model 10 Electra twin prop aircraft, commenced regular passenger services between St. John's, Gander and Deer Lake in 1955–56. In addition to regional charter work, international projects were operated as well, including a contract beginning in 1958 to do extensive work in Greenland with PBY Cansos and de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otters for Greenland Air until July 1965. 1960s In 1960, regular passenger services began to Wabush and Twin Falls in Labrador. Curtiss C-46s were leased for the routes with the first Handley Page Dart Herald twin turboprop aircraft being purchased in 1962. EPA was one of the few operators of the Herald in Canada and the type was never operated by any airline in the U.S. In 1963, EPA purchased Maritime Central and the two companies merged to form Eastern Provincial Airways (1963) Limited. The amalgamation allowed for a strong