Summary
- Five routes were previously served, but two are brand-new: Calgary-Keflavik and Halifax-Edinburgh.
- Calgary-Edinburgh will see an increase in flights next summer due to its evidently successful first season.
- Calgary-London Gatwick has been cut, but WestJet will continue to serve Heathrow from the Alberta airport.
WestJet has added seven Boeing 737 MAX 8 routes from Canada to Europe. Eleven months ago, the airline’s Commercial Strategy Director was extolling the virtues of cutting all non-Calgary long-haul flying to concentrate on its primary hub to stabilize, focus, and develop. No more. It comes as the carrier applies for slots to serve Lisbon next summer, but the highly congested Portuguese capital is renowned for a lack of slots.
Seven European routes are coming
While more may follow, they are detailed below and are bookable. Using Cirium to examine schedules shows that WestJet previously served five, most in summer 2022, after which it decided to concentrate on Calgary. They are simple resumptions that were not previously expected to return.
Two are brand-new: Calgary-Keflavik and Halifax-Edinburgh. However, WestJet flew Halifax-Glasgow until 2022, after which it ended flying to that city to concentrate on Edinburgh. It is yet another string in Edinburgh’s North America bow versus Glasgow.
- Toronto to Dublin: March 1st, 2024; daily ← last served in 2022
- Halifax to London Gatwick: April 28th, 2024; four weekly ← last served in 2022
- St John’s to London Gatwick: May 1st, 2024; three weekly ← last served in 2017
- Toronto to Edinburgh: May 14th, 2024; daily ← last served in 2022
- Calgary to Keflavik: May 15th, 2024; four weekly ← previously unserved
- Halifax to Dublin: June 19th, 2024; four weekly ← last served in 2022
- Halifax to Edinburgh: June 20th, 2024; three weekly ← previously unserved
Image: GCMap
They come amid other changes
Calgary-Edinburgh, introduced in May 2023, will rise to four weekly Boeing 787-9 flights next summer, up from three in 2023. Evidently, the summer-seasonal route – which had never been served before – performed sufficiently well to be expanded.
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According to UK CAA data, it carried 34,518 roundtrip passengers between May and September. Cirium indicates 37,760 seats were for sale, meaning a high average seat load factor of 91.4%. As you’d expect, it was greatly helped by July and August (95%+). Of course, the question, as ever, is how the SLF is achieved.
Source: UK CAA. Figure: James Pearson
It is not all good news. Calgary-London Gatwick, which launched in May 2016 when WestJet used 767-300ERs, has been cut. It operated daily this summer, with its Calgary-London operation now ‘only’ being to Heathrow.
But for Halifax and St John’s relaunch, WestJet would have exited Gatwick to consolidate at the UK’s busiest airport. It is logical to conclude that it would probably serve only Heathrow if it could gain more slots for its other routes.
What do you make of it all? Let us know in the comments section.
Sources: WestJet’s website, Google Flights, Cirium, UK CAA, NAV Portugal report