WestJet (WS, Calgary) could begin offering international flights onboard widebody aircraft as early as early 2016 should its board give the move the go-ahead. In an interview with Canada's CBC, CEO Gregg Saretsky, said the push to further expand the airline's international footprint came in the wake of "heavy demand" for the airline's upcoming Toronto Pearson to Dublin International via St. John's flights. The flights, the CEO said, will now operate for an additional 3 weeks ending on October 25.

“All of that gives us great confidence that there is strong demand for a value-based international product that WestJet is looking to pursue,” Saretsky said before the airline’s annual meeting in Toronto. “Obviously, we are looking for markets that are burdened by very high airfares and there are lots of those in the international space so there are opportunities across many geographies.”

He noted that discussions with the airline's pilots as well as aircraft manufacturers such as Airbus (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac) and Boeing (BOE, Washington National) had already been held. He did not, however, disclose what type of aircraft or which destinations in particular were being considered.

With a fleet of thirteen B737-600s, sixty-nine B737-700s and twenty-three B737-800s, the Canadian operator currently serves 88 destinations in Canada, the United States, Europe, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean.