Canadian low-fare carrier WestJet has this week revealed plans to expand its winter schedule with the addition of four new sun destinations and the extension of two existing routes from seasonal to a year-round basis. The new destinations comprise Antigua and Barbuda, Curacao and Liberia in Costa Rica, all of which will be served from Toronto Pearson International Airport as well as Manzanillo in Mexico which will be linked with Calgary International Airport. The new routes will all commence in late October or early November and will operate through to late April 2013.
Liberia, often called ‘la ciudad blanca’ (the white city) by its residents because of the white gravel once used to make the city’s roads and the whitewashed colonial houses that once made up a large part of the city, is the capital and largest city of Guanacaste province, Costa Rica, located 215 kilometres northwest of the national capital, San José. It will be served on a twice weekly basis by WestJet using a Boeing 737-800 but is also set to be served by Air Canada from Toronto Pearson for the first time this winter.
Antigua and Barbuda, meanwhile, has been linked to Toronto Pearson for decades with Air Canada and former Caribbean carrier BWIA West Indies Airways providing links through the 1980s and 1990s. BWIA suspended links in October 2006 but the Canadian flag carrier has continued to serve the route on a year-round basis. WestJet plans to offer a twice weekly service using a 737-700.
The final new destination for WestJet from Toronto Pearson for Winter 2012/2013 is Curaçao, the largest and most populous of the three ABC islands (Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao) of the Lesser Antilles in the southern Caribbean Sea, off the Venezuelan coast. The airline will offer a weekly 737-800 rotation on a route already offered on a seasonal basis by Air Canada.
Elsewhere, the Pacific Ocean Mexican city of Manzanillo, home to the country’s largest port, will be served on a weekly basis from Calgary International. The route was previously served by the airline with two return rotations in March 2007 and more recently Air Transat introduced an offering between December 2011 and February 2012 and plans to also operate between December 2012 and April 2013.
Alongside the new routes, WestJet has also confirmed that it will extend its existing non-stop service between Toronto Pearson and Kingston, Jamaica, from seasonal to year-round status, as well as increasing non-stop service between Aruba and Toronto Pearson from once to twice weekly. Its new winter schedule will also include some additional new routes to some of its existing markets. These include:
- A weekly Kelowna - Los Angeles service between November 3, 2012 April 27, 2013; a route that will also be served for the first time by SkyWest Airlines on behalf of United Airlines using a Bombardier CRJ700 from December 2012.
- A weekly London – Varadero link between December 21, 2012 and April 26, 2013; a route served by Sunwing Airlines between December 2011 and March 2012 and previously by Air Canada from December 2003 to March 2004.
- A weekly Montreal – Providenciales connection between December 14, 2012 and April 26, 2013; a route served the past four winter seasons by Air Canada who will resume its own seasonal flights in December 2012.
- A weekly Montreal – St Maarten rotation between December 17, 2012 and April 22, 2012; a brand new city pair adding to WestJet’s existing flights to the Caribbean island from Toronto Pearson.
- A weekly Ottawa – Ft Myers service between December 22, 2012 and April 27, 2013; another brand new city pair offering that complements the low-cost carrier’s existing links to Ft Myers from Toronto Pearson.
- A limited schedule weekly St. John’s – Punta Cana link between February 17, 2013 and April 21, 2013; a route last served by Air Canada between April and May 2005.
- A weekly Thunder Bay – Cancun rotation from November 3, 2012 to April 27, 2013; a brand new offering for residents in the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario.
- A weekly Winnipeg – Los Cabos offering between December 21, 2012 and April 26, 2013; a route previously served by Skyservice Airlines using Boeing 757 equipment between February and April 2010.
WestJet will also expand service from various Canadian cities to Hawaii, California, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Mexico, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic.
"The addition of these new sun destinations as part of our 2012-2013 winter schedule demonstrates our ongoing strategic focus on expanding our offerings within the popular sun destination market," said John MacLeod, Vice-President, Alliances, Strategy and Chief Network Officer, WestJet. "With some two dozen Caribbean hotspots and seven destinations in Mexico, Canadians looking for the sun this winter will have no shortage of choices for their getaway vacations."
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