Canadian Airport Thread II

[jc_yyc_ca]

Originally Posted by hollywoodcory

YYC-GRU has been loaded starting in November:

WS54 YYC 22:45 - 15:35+1 GRU
WS55 GRU 19:45 - 05:15+1 YYC

Press release should be out shortly.

Nice. Another long distance route and to South America. Brazil has become a more popular destination in recent years.

It's going to be interesting to see what other routes pop up when WS receives the next batch of 789s

[Zmonkey]

Originally Posted by jc_yyc_ca

Nice. Another long distance route and to South America. Brazil has become a more popular destination in recent years.

It's going to be interesting to see what other routes pop up when WS receives the next batch of 789s

The first of the next batch of 787 are showing up in 2031. This is using slack they have in the wide bodies over winter.

[jc_yyc_ca]

Originally Posted by Zmonkey

The first of the next batch of 787 are showing up in 2031. This is using slack they have in the wide bodies over winter.

Oh I know, but it's fun to speculate which routes the new ones will be used for

[Cage]

Originally Posted by Zmonkey

The first of the next batch of 787 are showing up in 2031. This is using slack they have in the wide bodies over winter.

My guess is that either HNL or OGG get whacked with a downgrade to a max8 in the next schedule update.

[Chinook Arch]

Originally Posted by jc_yyc_ca

Nice. Another long distance route and to South America. Brazil has become a more popular destination in recent years.

It's going to be interesting to see what other routes pop up when WS receives the next batch of 789s

Most likely another Asian route, either PVG or PEK. PEK world require flying over Russian airspace, but things could change in 5 years.

[Calfan12]

WestJet on Monday (19JAN26) announced new route launch from Calgary to South America, where it plans to operate Calgary – Sao Paulo Guarulhos nonstop flight, on board Boeing 787-9. Sao Paulo, scheduled to commence on 08NOV26 with 3 weekly flights, is set to be the carrier’s 100th destination served from Calgary.

WS054 YYC2245 – 1535+1GRU 789 247
WS055 GRU1940 – 0515+1YYC 789 135

The airline on 16JAN26 received approval from The Canadian Transportation Agency to convert permit to serve Brasil with its own aircraft.

https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/260119-wsnw26gru

[kattiff]

with Delta, Korean, Air France, KLM all in there with WestJet any big future WestJet destinations will be to “Skyteam Hubs or Cities”

[LeftCoaster]

Originally Posted by hollywoodcory

YYC-GRU has been loaded starting in November:

WS54 YYC 22:45 - 15:35+1 GRU
WS55 GRU 19:45 - 05:15+1 YYC

Press release should be out shortly.

Huge news. Congrats to YYC.

Very interested to see how this one performs. Even huge markets like LAX and SFO can't make Brazil work well, so WS definitely has their work cut out for them here, but maybe they have the secret sauce to get it going.

I see it starts at the end of Nov, any word on how long it goes for? Assuming it is winter seasonal since the 789s are all very much spoken for in the summer.

[Surrealplaces]

Originally Posted by LeftCoaster

Huge news. Congrats to YYC.

Very interested to see how this one performs. Even huge markets like LAX and SFO can't make Brazil work well, so WS definitely has their work cut out for them here, but maybe they have the secret sauce to get it going.

I see it starts at the end of Nov, any word on how long it goes for? Assuming it is winter seasonal since the 789s are all very much spoken for in the summer.

Yep, it'll be winter seasonal. I suspect they are banking on it being the only flight to Brazil west of Toronto, where WS has their strong feeder hub system. Toronto and Montreal together have a strong feeder area close to 30 million people, whereas WS would have a feeder area (BS<-> Manitoba) of close to 14 Million people.

I guess time will tell how well it does. If anything it will probably do well for a few winters as people take advantage of it being a new destination.

[Dominion301]

AM and WS are expanding their codeshare slightly and AM are adding their code to the following WS routes out of YUL: YEG & YWG. Aren't both of those routes summer seasonal?

https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/260119-amwscodeshare

[thenoflyzone]

Originally Posted by LeftCoaster

Huge news. Congrats to YYC.

Very interested to see how this one performs. Even huge markets like LAX and SFO can't make Brazil work well, so WS definitely has their work cut out for them here, but maybe they have the secret sauce to get it going.

I see it starts at the end of Nov, any word on how long it goes for? Assuming it is winter seasonal since the 789s are all very much spoken for in the summer.

Secret sauce?

I think a bunch of WS route planners went into a room at headquarters and said "our 100th out of YYC needs to be somewhere 🞵🞵🞵🞵 and exciting, any ideas?".

One guy said "how about a 5,700nm trek to Brazil"?

This being said, If I was a Calgarian, this is awesome news.

As for WS, I admire their boldness, but I am skeptical this route will work, at the present time. The flight doesn't connect well with NRT, and unlike YYC-Asia or YYC-Europe, YYC's location for South America runs isn't ideal for most US originating passengers.

I think LIM or BOG would have been better options. They are closer to YYC, and don't involve a backtrack if your end destination is northern or western South America. Heck even SCL is a shorter flight than to GRU.

As for yield, we already know Canada-Asia commands much higher fares than Canada-Brazil at the moment. And if WS can launch a 5,700nm route from YYC to GRU, then they should be able to launch a ~5300nm route (with the Russia detour) to PVG. Yes, going down to GRU has no headwinds, whereas going to PVG does, so maybe that's the reason why they chose Brazil instead of China.

Either way, there are limits to what WS can launch out of YYC, and I think they will test those limits come next November. Wish them the best of luck though.

[RomanR27]

Noticed WS has added a second YOW-YYZ flight for the summer - that flight runs 6x weekly in the shoulder season and daily in the peak summer (so between 13-14x weekly flights).

WS893 YOW 0555 0705 YYZ D
WS589 YOW 1835 1945 YYZ x1 (daily from 15JUN to 13SEP)

WS588 YYZ 1630 1735 YOW x1 (daily from 15JUN to 13SEP)
WS892 YYZ 2315 0020+1 YOW D

All five WS YYZ Europe routes - DUB, CWL, EDI, GLA and PDL - are all sub-four hour connections in both directions with this new flight added.

I wonder when the rest of their summer schedule will be announced?

[Ozabald]

Originally Posted by thenoflyzone

Secret sauce?

I think a bunch of WS route planners went into a room at headquarters and said "our 100th out of YYC needs to be somewhere 🞵🞵🞵🞵 and exciting, any ideas?".

One guy said "how about a 5,700nm trek to Brazil"?

This being said, If I was a Calgarian, this is awesome news.

As for WS, I admire their boldness, but I am skeptical this route will work, at the present time. The flight doesn't connect well with NRT, and unlike YYC-Asia or YYC-Europe, YYC's location for South America runs isn't ideal for most US originating passengers.

I think LIM or BOG would have been better options. They are closer to YYC, and don't involve a backtrack if your end destination is northern or western South America. Heck even SCL is a shorter flight than to GRU.

As for yield, we already know Canada-Asia commands much higher fares than Canada-Brazil at the moment. And if WS can launch a 5,700nm route from YYC to GRU, then they should be able to launch a ~5300nm route (with the Russia detour) to PVG. Yes, going down to GRU has no headwinds, whereas going to PVG does, so maybe that's the reason why they chose Brazil instead of China.

Either way, there are limits to what WS can launch out of YYC, and I think they will test those limits come next November. Wish them the best of luck though.

Could GRU be used for connections to/from domestic Brazilian destinations; and other int'l locations in southern South America? As well, there are flights from GRU to Angola and South Africa. Don't know if the WestJet flights will be timed for passenger feeds to/from Africa.

[ninjakafi_81]

Saw this on another forum, but it looks like Air Canada will announce a new route tomorrow.

[jc_yyc_ca]

Originally Posted by thenoflyzone

As for yield, we already know Canada-Asia commands much higher fares than Canada-Brazil at the moment. And if WS can launch a 5,700nm route from YYC to GRU, then they should be able to launch a ~5300nm route (with the Russia detour) to PVG. Yes, going down to GRU has no headwinds, whereas going to PVG does, so maybe that's the reason why they chose Brazil instead of China.

They don't have any free frames for summer, and PVG would be either summer or year round, whereas GRU will be a winter flight.
I'm not sure how well the GRU route will go, but I feel confident we'll see a PVG route a t some point, either after either a Euro route closure or in 5 years when the next batch of 789s arrive.

[msmariner]

Wonder if a 789 slot opened up earlier than 2031 WS would take a frame early? Being one of Boeing’s biggest 737 customers and with the long Delay on the MAX-10’s maybe get some early Dreamliner deliveries in compensation?

[Dominion301]

Originally Posted by RomanR27

Noticed WS has added a second YOW-YYZ flight for the summer - that flight runs 6x weekly in the shoulder season and daily in the peak summer (so between 13-14x weekly flights).

WS893 YOW 0555 0705 YYZ D
WS589 YOW 1835 1945 YYZ x1 (daily from 15JUN to 13SEP)

WS588 YYZ 1630 1735 YOW x1 (daily from 15JUN to 13SEP)
WS892 YYZ 2315 0020+1 YOW D

All five WS YYZ Europe routes - DUB, CWL, EDI, GLA and PDL - are all sub-four hour connections in both directions with this new flight added.

I wonder when the rest of their summer schedule will be announced?

About time WS have a YOW-YYZ flight that connects to/from the evening bank. They've added a second daily YUL-YYZ too, but the evening YUL doesn't get into YYZ until 2055.

[Dominion301]

Originally Posted by RomanR27

Noticed WS has added a second YOW-YYZ flight for the summer - that flight runs 6x weekly in the shoulder season and daily in the peak summer (so between 13-14x weekly flights).

WS893 YOW 0555 0705 YYZ D
WS589 YOW 1835 1945 YYZ x1 (daily from 15JUN to 13SEP)

WS588 YYZ 1630 1735 YOW x1 (daily from 15JUN to 13SEP)
WS892 YYZ 2315 0020+1 YOW D

All five WS YYZ Europe routes - DUB, CWL, EDI, GLA and PDL - are all sub-four hour connections in both directions with this new flight added.

I wonder when the rest of their summer schedule will be announced?

About time WS have a second YOW-YYZ flight that connects to/from the evening bank. They've added a second daily YUL-YYZ too, but the evening YUL doesn't get into YYZ until 2055.

[LeftCoaster]

Originally Posted by ninjakafi_81

Saw this on another forum, but it looks like Air Canada will announce a new route tomorrow.

Would be hilarious if it was YVR-South America.

I highly doubt it, but it would be quite the statement from AC.

[Bourkky]

Originally Posted by ninjakafi_81

Saw this on another forum, but it looks like Air Canada will announce a new route tomorrow.

It's a new route for winter 2026-2027.