WestJet will being flying to year-round from Calgary and Vancouver to Mexico City in 2018.
Starting March 14, the carrier will begin service with four weekly flights between Calgary and Mexico City. On March 15, a three-time weekly service between Vancouver and Mexico City will begin. Effective April 29, both routes will move to daily service.
According to Ed Sims, WestJet’s executive vice-president-Commercial, the expansion represents the carrier’s continued investment in connecting the economies of Canada and Mexico, and providing choice and competition for Canada’s business and leisure travelers. He adds that the flights will also enable Mexican visitors an affordable option to discover our country and Mexican businesses to increase commercial ties.
WestJet currently serves 10 cities in Mexico from 17 Canadian cities and offers more non-stop routes than any other Canadian airline—at peak winter schedule it will operate more than 140 flights per week. Since 2012, the airline’s traffic to Mexico has grown by more than 50 percent. Last winter, WestJet flew an average of 18 daily round-trips between Canada and Mexico. WestJet and Mexico’s flag carrier, Aeromexico, have been interline partners since 2011 and full codeshare partners since 2015.
Government and business response to the announcement has been positive. The Honourable Bardish Chagger, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister of Small Business and Tourism, congratulated the carrier for expanding its service to Mexico.
“Our government understands the important contribution tourism makes to our economy,” said Chagger. ” As Canada’s largest service export, and an industry that supports more than 1.8 million jobs in Canadian communities—from coast to coast to coast—we are committed to working with our partners to build on the recent successes the industry has experienced.”
Bob Sartor, president and CEO for The Calgary Airport Authority, said that the new non-stop service will be another great route option for Albertans looking to connect to one of the world’s largest trading markets. “As a burgeoning business market for agriculture and oil and gas, this is an important link as our city and region looks for opportunities to grow and diversify our economy,” he explained.
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