On the 20th, Incheon International Airport Corporation announced that they held a ceremony on the evening of the 18th at the boarding gate of Incheon Airport Terminal 1 to celebrate the new flight of WestJet, one of Canada’s two major airlines.
Officials including WestJet’s Charity Wedin, Regional Executive for International Airports, APG Korea’s Chunkit Wong, and Lee Soo Tae, Head of Aviation Marketing for Incheon International Airport Corporation attended the event.
The new regular Incheon-Calgary route is the third direct Canadian route following Vancouver and Toronto. Notably, the province of Alberta, where Calgary is located, is home to various tourist destinations that attract travelers, such as Edmonton and Banff National Park. Hence, the new flight is expected to promote passenger demand.
After launching flights to Tokyo, Japan last year, WestJet has chosen Incheon as its second Asian destination. Given that the Tokyo route increased from three weekly flights last year to seven weekly flights starting in April this year. The Incheon route is also expected to expand based on this year’s records.
As of 2023, approximately 24,000 passengers travel between Incheon and Calgary via Vancouver and other stops. WestJet plans to boost potential demand not only in the two countries but also in the Asian region through code-sharing with Korean Air.
The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner equipped with 320 seats is planned to be deployed on this route. The flight time from Incheon to Calgary will be 10 hours and 20 minutes.
The corporation plans to promote the new destination with digital display advertisements in collaboration with Calgary Airport. It also plans to provide marketing incentives to support the stable operation of WestJet, the new airline.
John Weatherill, Deputy CEO and Chief Commercial Officer of WestJet Group, said, “The decades-long history of cooperation and trade between Canada and Korea has laid the groundwork for WestJet’s Korean route. It will be a milestone in strengthening future cultural exchanges and economic ties between the two countries.”
Lee Hak Jae, CEO of Incheon International Airport Corporation, said, “I am very pleased to open a new sky route to Canada. We will cooperate with airlines to stably increase airline demands so that the new flight can operate stably.”