'It has become unviable to serve these markets and these decisions were regrettably inevitable as demand is being obliterated by the Atlantic bubble and third-party fee increases,' WestJet president and CEO Ed Sims said.
Routes analyzes some of the services returning as well as new routes being launched. This week we look at Qantas resuming trans-Tasman flights; Air India expanding with a new Canadian service; and Air Arabia Abu Dhabi’s latest network addition.
On the second anniversary of Swoop's inaugural flight, head of commercial Bert van der Stege discusses the airline’s response to the COVID-19 crisis and how it intends to maintain its growth path over the coming years.
Calin Rovinescu tells an Aviation Week Network webinar that his airline expects to carry 25% of last year’s number of passengers in Q3, providing it has market access.
Canada’s flag carrier planned to offer more than 16 million seats during the second quarter of the year but will slash capacity by up to 90% in response to the COVID-19 crisis.
Canadian ultra-LCC Flair Airlines will fly eight new routes in summer 2020 but is pulling service from Abbotsford after strong competition from WestJet subsidiary Swoop.
Air Canada is in exclusive talks to buy the company that owns Air Transat, potentially providing an opportunity to quickly expand its Air Canada Rouge business and increase consolidation in the transatlantic market. The proposed acquisition comes days after private equity firm Onex Corp struck a deal for Canadian rival WestJet.
Ultra low-cost carrier Swoop is stimulating a new market rather than cannibalising that of its parent WestJet, according to the airline’s chief executive Steven Greenway.
Routes Americas 2019 in Quebec takes place against a backdrop of growth in the Canadian market, with further capacity increases expected this year as the country’s ULCC market begins to take off.
Seasoned airline executive Steven Greenway took the helm of WestJet’s ultra low-cost carrier Swoop less than a year ago, overseeing its launch and the subsequent growth of its route network. Ahead of his participation at Routes Americas 2019 in Québec City, he tells Routesonline why the airline is appealing to a new breed of Canadian travellers.
Star Alliance members Air Canada and Air China have deepened their existing partnership by signing a joint venture agreement. The deal comes amid a strong increase capacity between the two countries.
WestJet’s new ultra low-cost arm will have six aircraft in service before the end of the year, the carrier’s chief executive has confirmed, with plans to expand trans-border and internationally.
Norwegian has so far concentrated on expanding its transatlantic services into the US and Argentina, but Canada appears to be next on the radar of the long-haul low-cost carrier - and its first routes to the North American country could be just months away.
