WestJet (WS, Calgary) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Gregg Saretsky has confirmed the Canadian budget carrier has applied to Transport Canada for designation to serve China.
Speaking to the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade last week, Saretsky said given the lengthy regulatory requirements that have to be met, he could not, as yet, confirm any dates or potential city pairs.
“We’re looking east, west and south. We are entering into the century of the Asia Pacific region,” he said. “Transport Canada will soon engage the Chinese delegation in Beijing."
At present, the only Canadian carrier to serve the Canada-China market is Air Canada which commands the lion's share of weekly seating capacity - 12,692 or 40.93% of the market. The ch-aviation capacity module shows that the remaining 59%, or 18,320 weekly seats, are shared among Chinese carriers including Air China, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Hainan Airlines, Sichuan Airlines, Xiamen Airlines, and Capital Airlines (China).
For its part, WestJet is a relatively recent entrant into the intercontinental market with its first transatlantic services starting in May last year. It currently serves London Gatwick, Dublin International, and Glasgow International in Europe from select points in Canada using a combination of B737NextGen and B767-300(ER) widebody capacity.
A recent order with Boeing (BOE, Washington National) for ten firm B787-9s, the first three of which are due in 2019, gave the first inkling as to WestJet's expansion plans. In May, it mentioned that the B787-9's range of more than 14,000 kilometres would "give WestJet the ability to serve new destinations in Asia and South America, and to expand its service offerings into the European market."
