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WestJet Winter Schedule Includes More Florida, Caribbean and Paris

 

WESTJET NEW WINTER SCHEDULE

 

WestJet today announced its winter schedule, unveiling significant opportunities for Canadians to plan their winter escapes and extending key domestic and international routes from summer to year-round service.

New routes include Calgary-Tampa Bay, Toronto-Bonaire and Edmonton-Montego Bay. The Tampa Bay flights will allow greater access to St. Petersburg, Clearwater Beach and Dunedin, spring training home of the Toronto Blue Jays.

WestJet also is extending key routes to operate year-round, including Calgary-Paris and Vancouver-Atlanta.

“This year’s winter schedule is about providing Canadians with what they want: affordable sun destination getaways from across Canada; enhanced domestic connectivity from coast-to-coast; and the assurance that some of our most popular routes, previously operated exclusively in the summer, are available year-round,” said John Weatherill, WestJet Group, Executive Vice-President and Chief Commercial Officer.

EXPANSION TO SUN DESTINATIONS

 

Pier 60 at Clearwater Beach, Florida. JIM BYERS PHOTO

Pier 60 at Clearwater Beach, Florida. JIM BYERS PHOTO

In alignment with WestJet’s growth strategy and providing more affordable leisure and sun travel opportunities, this winter the airline is increasing getaway opportunities with new service to some of WestJet’s most popular sun destinations. Featuring four new and four returning routes, WestJet’s winter schedule will see more than 85 daily departures on average to sun destinations from communities across Canada. Additionally, in response to high demand for travel to the popular beaches of Mexico, WestJet will proudly serve as the airline providing the most flights to over 10 Mexican destinations from Canada this winter. 

Route Frequency Start date
Calgary – Tampa Bay (new) 1x weekly December 23
Edmonton – Montego Bay (new) 1x weekly November 12
Edmonton – Mazatlán (restart) 2x weekly November 4
Prince George – Puerto Vallarta (restart) 1x weekly December 16
Toronto – Bonaire (new) 1x weekly December 12
Winnipeg – Huatulco (new) 1x weekly December 24
Victoria – Los Cabos (restart) 1x weekly November 9
Edmonton – Abbottsford (restart) 5x weekly October 29

 

As part of its winter schedule, the airline also announced new non-stop seasonal service between Toronto and Bonaire, beginning December 12, 2023. With the inclusion of Bonaire to its network, WestJet continues to enhance its capacity and commitment to the Greater Toronto Area.

 

Paris. Leonard Cotte/Unsplash Photo

 

YEAR-ROUND EXTENSIONS

Due to exceptional demand, WestJet is extending key routes, highly utilized by its guests this summer, to operate year-round.

Route Peak Frequency
Calgary – Paris 4x weekly
Edmonton – Minneapolis 5x weekly
Saskatoon – Minneapolis 3x weekly
Winnipeg – Atlanta 5x weekly
Vancouver – Atlanta 5x weekly
Vancouver – Regina** 3x weekly
Vancouver – Saskatoon** 2x weekly

** Returning route that was previously operated

Through WestJet’s codeshare partnerships, guests connecting through Paris, Atlanta or Minneapolis will arrive in Air France’s or Delta’s major hubs, respectively, gaining access to a vast network of European and U.S. destinations on a single purchased ticket.

MORE YEAR-ROUND SERVICE BETWEEN CALGARY AND ATLANTIC CANADA

 

In line with the airline’s growth plan, which aims to continuously expand options to ensure guests can seamlessly travel from coast to coast, WestJet is extending two more key domestic routes from Calgary to Moncton and St. John’s respectively, from summer to year-round service.

“We are more committed than ever to building on our momentum, strengthening Canada’s east to west connectivity year-round,” continued Weatherill. “Strong connections fostered between Eastern and Western Canada are essential to the communities we serve and bolstering business and tourism opportunities throughout our country.”

 

St. John's Newfoundland. JIM BYERS PHOTO

St. John’s Newfoundland. JIM BYERS PHOTO

 

Route Peak Frequency
Calgary – Moncton 2x weekly
Calgary – St. John’s 2x weekly

WestJet Group capacity

As an integral part of the WestJet Group, Sunwing Airlines, is further bolstering leisure and sun flying options across the country. Together as the WestJet Group, WestJet and Sunwing Airlines will provide more seats than any other Canadian airline, across 230 nonstop routes from 26 Canadian communities to 55 popular sun destinations in the U.S., Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America this winter.

Through its recently published winter schedule, Sunwing continues to demonstrate a strong focus on the leisure brand’s eastern roots, increasing their capacity in Atlantic Canada by 26 per cent, Quebec by 15 per cent and Ontario by 9 per cent, when compared to 2022.

“As we work towards our eventual airline integration, the complementary winter schedules of both WestJet and Sunwing Airlines demonstrate early signs of a vibrant future for the WestJet Group that will see a significantly expanded footprint in Eastern Canada and bring even more affordable and seamless sun and leisure travel opportunities to Canadians across the country,” Weatherill said.

INTERNATIONAL GROUP BLASTS USA AND CANADA ON AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS

 

Air traffic control tower. Palumpawump/Unsplash Photo

Air traffic control tower. Palumpawump/Unsplash Photo

 

The International Air Transport Association is blasting the Biden administration and Canada’s federal government for failing to keep up with the demand for air traffic controllers.

Air Traffic Control staff shortages in North America “continue to produce unacceptable delays and disruptions for the traveling public on both sides of the border,” the group said recently. 

“The recent report by the US Department of Transportation (DOT) Office of the Inspector General makes clear that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has allowed the controller workforce to shrink to the point where it is challenged to maintain continuity of operations at the country’s most critical air traffic control facilities. In fact, 77% of these vital facilities are staffed below the Agency’s 85% threshold. The situations in New York Terminal Radar Approach Control and Miami Tower are extreme at 54% and 66%, respectively.

The group also criticized the Trudeau government in Ottawa.

“Recent press reports highlight how NAV Canada, the Canadian air navigation services provider (ANSP), is also letting down airlines and the traveling public, with hundreds of flights cancelled owing to controller shortages,” IATA said.

 

WORLD’S BEST AIRPORTS FOR FOOD: SOUTH KOREA TAKES THE PRIZE

Airport restaurant, JFK. Max Harlynking-unsplash  photo

Airport restaurant, JFK. Max Harlynking-unsplash photo.

 

If you want good airport food, the U.S. is good. But Asia is your best bet.

CNBC says Radical Storage, a luggage storage service and travel tip provider, ranked the best airports for food in the world from an analysis of more than 1.2 million passenger reviews. The ranking measured the following data points for the top 100 airports;

  • Number of eateries (restaurants and cafés) available to passengers.
  • Average price of a main meal or lunch item in each airport.
  • The average rating of eateries on Google Maps.
  • Number of eateries that offer vegan and vegetarian options.
  • Number of eateries that offer gluten-free options.

No Canadian airports made the top 10, but Toronto Pearson finished in 14th spot. No European airports made the top 10, either.

The U.S. placed eight airports in the top 20, while Asia had nine, including five of the top seven.

Here’s the top 20:

  1. Incheon International Airport, South Korea
  2. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, United States
  3. Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taiwan
  4. Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, United States
  5. Jeju International Airport, South Korea
  6. Narita International Airport, Japan
  7. Tokyo International Airport, Japan
  8. Chicago O’Hare International Airport, United States (don’t miss the Chicago popcorn)
  9. Los Angeles International Airport, United States
  10. Singapore Changi Airport, Singapore
  11. Stockholm Arlanda Airport, Sweden
  12. Hong Kong International Airport
  13. San Francisco International Airport, United States
  14. Toronto Pearson Airport, Canada
  15. Denver International Airport, United States
  16. Istanbul Ataturk Airport, Turkiye
  17. Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi, India
  18. Charlotte Douglas International Airport, United States
  19. Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Manila, Philippines
  20. Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, United States