WestJet returns to Fredericton with seasonal service to Calgary
Airline to offer a flight twice a week starting in June
WestJet is returning to the Fredericton International Airport to offer a single flight, twice a week, from Fredericton to Calgary.
The seasonal non-stop service will start June 20 and run until Oct. 28.
It's the first time the airline has operated out of Fredericton since it cancelled its flight from New Brunswick's capital to Toronto on Nov. 15, 2022.
"Today's an awesome day," said Johanne Gallant, president and CEO of the Fredericton International Airport.
"The goal is to grow with WestJet, to expand on more frequency, and maybe expand on the season. So, we're very optimistic that this flight will do well and from there we grow."
The plane and route are different from what WestJet offered in its previous Fredericton operations.
"The flight that was here previously was Toronto to Fredericton," said Andy Gibbons, vice-president external affairs for WestJet, who made the announcement at the airport on Tuesday. "That was operated on our Q400 turboprop, so that's an aircraft we no longer operate in this region."
Instead, Gibbons said, the jet to Calgary will be from the company's fleet of Boeing 737s with capacity between 150 and 180 seats, split between business and economy options. This is part of a shift in the company's strategy, Gibbons said.
"That's where the demand is and that's what this market wants," Gibbons said. "WestJet is about east-west and north-south. So commuter flights and regional services are not in our business plan for Atlantic Canada."
Tuesday's announcement follows another by WestJet in February, when it said it would resume flights from Moncton to Toronto twice a week starting in May.
In Fredericton, the company said it's focused on leisure flights.
"A Q400 flight to Toronto relies on a lot of business travel and a lot of government travel, and that's not our business priority right now," Gibbons said. "Our business priority right now is to be the largest, and we are the largest, leisure airline in Canada. This fits with our strategy and it is what the community wants."
The return of WestJet flights coincides with an increase in air passenger traffic, nearing numbers seen prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Gallant said.
"This year could be pretty close to what we saw in 2019 pre-pandemic," she said. "We're really growing at a fast pace. We're so excited about that."
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