LONDON – Canadian carrier WestJet has recently announced a new route connecting Calgary with Tokyo, as well as new routes to Europe followed by increased frequencies.

The new routes act as a part of the carrier’s 2023 Summer Dreamliner programme, which is a part of their wider growth strategy.

The new destinations

In their recent announcement, the Canadian airline WestJet advised details of three new routes across two continents for their Summer 2023 Boeing 787 Dreamliner programme.

Calgary Int’l Airport will see new routes to Tokyo, Japan as well as Barcelona, Spain, and Edinburgh, Scotland for the summer 2023 season, together with increased frequencies on WestJet’s flights to Dublin, London, Paris and Rome.

Tokyo most definitely stands out in this announcement, as it will enter the WestJet route network as the first destination in Asia for the airline, with service from Calgary Int’l Airport (YYC), to Tokyo Narita Int’l Airport (NRT).

Creating a greater two-way opportunity for tourism, is WestJet’s new routes to Edinburgh, Scotland and Barcelona, Spain – opening the first route to Spain for the carrier, as well as Edinburgh being the second route to the United Kingdom, with London coming in as the first.

In total, WestJet’s Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft will take flight to eight transoceanic destinations in 2023, with 40 weekly departures strategically scheduled to maximize the capacity across 24 Western Canadian communities.

WestJet Statement

Alexis von Hoensbroech, WestJet Group Chief Executive Officer, commented on this announcement saying: ”This is an exciting day for the WestJet Group, our guests, and partners as we deliver on our new strategy and demonstrate our western focus as we increase our Calgary capacity by more than 25 per cent in 2023.”

“Starting with the expansion of our intercontinental routes, future announcements will focus on domestic and North American additions that will bring even more affordable travel options to our guests in the new year,”

“With Calgary as home base to our 787 aircraft, access between western Canadian communities and these intercontinental destinations will play a vital role in creating an economically prosperous aviation pipeline that better connects Canadians to the world and the world to Western Canada.”

Alberta, Canada’s only gateway to Japan

As mentioned, Tokyo, Japan becomes the first service to Asia for WestJet, and it has not gone unnoticed.

Besides being the first Japanese destination of WestJet, it will also become the only gateway to Japan from Alberta, Canada.

The route will also be a key factor to establishing ties to Alberta’s tourism, business economies and connectivity to more than fity destinations across the continent.

Danielle Smith, Premier of Alberta, said the following on this: “The Government of Alberta congratulates Calgary and WestJet, and believes this is a major announcement for our province.”

“Alberta is opening more to the world. We are excited to see the agreement from October result in billions of new investment come into Calgary.”

“New routes are opening our province to major cities throughout the globe. We look forward to more good news like this in the future and remain committed to growing Alberta’s aviation and tourism sector in the future.”

The Tokyo schedule

Starting April 30, travellers can fly with WestJet to Japan across a thrice-weekly frequency, with the rest of the schedule being as followed:

Overall

WestJet are not leaving much behind in the preparations for the summer programme and utilization of their Long-Haul airliners, something these three new routes along with the increased frequencies on other routes show.

So far, the performance and load factor on the new Japan-route especially, remains to be seen. However, there could be chances of further expansion into the Asian market in general, if this new expansion works out great.

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