WestJet suspends flights to Europe from three Canadian cities

WestJet will suspend its European services from Halifax (YHZ), Toronto – Pearson (YYZ) and Vancouver (YVR) during the 2023 summer season. This move is part of the airline’s strategy to concentrate all its intercontinental operations and base all its Boeing 787 Dreamliners at its main hub in Calgary (YYC).

The carrier will drop all routes from Halifax (YHZ) to Dublin (DUB), Glasgow (GLA), London – Gatwick (LGW) and Paris (CDG), these services were operated on Boeing 737-8 aircraft. The company offered about 19,000 seats per month between YHZ and Europe during the 2022 summer season.

With this suspension of WestJet, transatlantic operations from Halifax-Stanfield International Airport (YHZ) are reduced by 46.2%, leaving Air Canada airlines offering flights to London – Heathrow (LHR), Condor and Eurowings Discover, both of which operate seasonal services from Frankfurt (FRA), in the market.

The Canadian airline will be working with local authorities and stakeholders to reactivate European connections from Halifax (YHZ) in 2024.

Other transatlantic services the carrier will discontinue are from Toronto (YYZ) to Barcelona (BCN), Edinburgh (EDI), Glasgow (GLA), Dublin (DUB) and London – Gatwick (LGW), as well as flights between Vancouver (YVR) and the British capital.

Therefore, WestJet’s intercontinental operations for the upcoming summer season will be carried on from Calgary (YYC) with transatlantic services to London – Gatwick (LGW), London – Heathrow (LHR), Rome – Fiumicino (FCO), Paris – Charles de Gaulle (CDG), Dublin (DUB), Barcelona (BCN) and Edinburgh (EDI), the connection to Amsterdam (AMS) will be discontinued as of the end of March.

In addition, the Canadian airline will enter the trans-Pacific market with new service to Tokyo – Narita (NRT), reconnecting the province of Alberta to Asia via Japan. WestJet also offers connections to the Japanese capital from Vancouver (YVR) via Japan Airlines, its codeshare partner.