Edmonton airport to get more WestJet flights than ever next year

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WestJet will grow its flights from Edmonton International Airport by more than 20 per cent next summer, making it the busiest season of flights out of Edmonton on record.

In an announcement on Monday, WestJet and Edmonton International Airport (EIA), revealed that the airline is once again expanding customer offerings to Edmonton travellers. WestJet is already the top choice of Edmonton travellers, serving more than half of EIA passengers. By adding transborder destinations like Salt Lake City and Chicago, the airline will have its busiest year in the city to date in 2025.

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“It really speaks to the long standing partnership with WestJet being Alberta’s hometown carrier. It’s really exciting,” said James Jackson, EIA vice-president of air service and business development.

The airline’s news release, said seating capacity will expand in both the domestic and U.S. markets by 25 per cent and 10 per cent, respectively. The growth in domestic seating capacity comes from more flights. WestJet will add two more daily flights to Toronto and Vancouver, and one more daily flight to Comox, Grande Prairie, Kelowna, Ottawa, Regina, Saskatoon and Winnipeg. A complete list of WestJet’s offerings out of EIA can be found in the release.

The expansion is considered by EIA to be a net positive announcement, aligning directly with its broad mandate of increasing Edmonton’s connection with the rest of the world, Jackson said.

“I always say that air service is the sort of spark to the economic development plane, and having new routes really enables the business community and the leisure travelling community to experience the world. And we’re really excited to facilitate that,” said Jackson.

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Even before the recent announcement, WestJet has given the Edmonton market increasingly more attention, which — based on passenger’s use of the airline — seems to resonate with the Edmonton customers. Shortly before the pandemic, the airline opened a base of operations in Edmonton, more than doubling its employees in the city and making it the largest of the airline’s bases outside of its headquarters in Calgary.

“In the last three years, we have almost doubled our presence in the community, demonstrating an unwavering commitment to further growing Edmonton on connectivity throughout North America,” said WestJet CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech.

Although WestJet continues to grow its services in Edmonton, Jackson said he isn’t concerned about the airline’s share of the Edmonton market because in the competitive industry, airlines are responsible for making their own choices.

“I think having a diversified network and series of airlines that Edmontonians can can fly with is important. I also think having partners with deep domestic transporter and global networks is also important,” said Jackson.

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“This is a highly competitive industry and while we work very closely with airlines, we can assist them in increasing their service to Edmonton, but ultimately they’re private businesses and they make their own strategic choices.”

As such, any airline could compete with WestJet’s growing presence in Edmonton, but for now Jackson said that customers should take advantage of the new offerings to send a signal to investors.

“It’s really important that as we move forward, folks continue to fly, because the more we fly, the more airlines will look at Edmonton as a place to invest,” he said.

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Twitter/X: @ZacharyDelaney

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