WestJet Airlines Ltd., which is increasingly looking to expand beyond Canada’s borders, plans to dip its toes into the Caribbean this winter after receiving permission from Ottawa to fly to nearly a dozen countries in the region.
Calgary-based WestJet said yesterday, beginning Nov. 5, it plans to offer seasonal flights three days a week between Toronto and Nassau.
In addition to the Bahamas, the carrier has received designations from Transport Canada to fly to Aruba, Antigua, Barbuda, Bermuda the Cayman Islands, the Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe, Jamaica, Martinique and the Turks and Caicos Islands, although a WestJet spokeswoman said there are currently no plans to take advantage of the additional routes.
One analyst said WestJet’s plan could prove to be a much cheaper way for travellers to visit “niche” vacation spots, some which are only available through the purchase of a complete holiday package.
“I think it’s a very good move for WestJet,” said David Newman, an analyst at National Bank Financial. “And that’s because right now travellers don’t really have the option of getting to some of these destinations unless they fly on a charter.
“This is perhaps a low-cost, low-fare way for travellers to visit some of these premium, niche destinations that they would otherwise have to pay a much higher amount of money for.”
The new destination options also promise to give WestJet more flexibility during the leaner winter travel months, when some of its domestic flying can be shifted to the south as Canadians look to flee winter snowstorms and sub-zero temperatures.
While WestJet already flies to several destinations in the Caribbean and Mexico on behalf of holiday tour operator Transat AT Inc., the new service to the Bahamas marks the first time it has offered its own scheduled flights to a foreign country other than the United States.
“This is an exciting first step outside of North America for WestJet,” said Sean Durfy, WestJet’s executive vice-president of marketing, sales and airports. “We continue to deliver on our strategic plan, and scheduled service to Nassau is the next step.”
Several of the countries WestJet received permission to fly to in the Caribbean are served by Air Canada, a division of ACE Aviation Holdings Inc., or charter operators, including Transat, Sunwing Vacations and Sunquest Vacations.
Observers say they expect WestJet to test the new market this winter and then slowly add destinations in the region as demand increases. The carrier also plans to sell vacation packages to the region through its newly created WestJet Vacations business.
Rick Erickson, a Calgary-based airline consultant, said WestJet’s foray into the holiday-package market could help it address analysts’ concerns about the airline’s inability to significantly improve its margins in the face of rising fuel prices and mounting competition from Air Canada.
Chris Sorensen, Financial Post
www.canada.com
