WestJet has just revealed a new seasonal route between Calgary and Rome, which is also the first ever route between Calgary and Italy.
WestJet’s Calgary To Rome Flight
As of May 2, 2020, WestJet will launch a new seasonal flight between Calgary and Rome. The route will be flown by WestJet’s new Boeing 787-9, and will operate up to 3x weekly in peak season.
The flight will operate with the following schedule:
Calgary to Rome departing 6:00PM arriving 12:00PM (+1 day)
Rome to Calgary departing 2:00PM arriving 4:33PM
The service will operate 1x weekly as of May 2, 2020, and then 3x weekly as of May 28, 2020. The flights are timed to offer convenient connections throughout WestJet’s network from Calgary.
WestJet has also announced that as of the summer of 2020 they’ll be increasing 787-9 frequencies on their routes from Calgary to London, Paris, and Dublin.
WestJet’s 787
WestJet’s “Safe” Dreamliner Strategy
WestJet has come a long way in changing their overall strategy, and part of that has been ordering Boeing 787-9s. Historically the airline hasn’t offered a proper business class product, but their 787s are changing that (read a review of WestJet’s 787 business class here).
WestJet’s 787 business class
The airline took delivery of their first 787 in February 2019. WestJet has a total of 10 of these planes on order, with a further 10 options.
When WestJet first placed the order there was talk of them possibly using the planes to launch flights to Asia and South America. That hasn’t been their strategy up until now, though.
Rather they’ve used the 787s primarily to fly to London, Paris, and Dublin, which are routes they previously served with 767s. The Rome route is interesting in the sense that it’s a new destination for the airline, though it’s still “safe” in the sense that summer seasonal flying to Europe isn’t that hard to make profitable.
WestJet is flying 787s to Hawaii this winter, though as they pick up more 787s, I’m curious how they’ll use these planes in winter, since their focus seems to be on highly seasonal Europe.
WestJet’s 787 premium economy
Bottom Line
WestJet will be launching flights from Calgary to Rome in the summer of 2020, which is a new destination for the airline. It’s nice to see them use the 787 to launch a new route, though in the grand scheme of things it’s not exactly a creative one.
It will be interesting to see if WestJet eventually launches flights to Asia or South America with their 787s, or if they just use them for Europe flying in the summer, and then a combination of some Europe flying and some warm weather leisure flying in winter.
What do you make of WestJet’s 787 strategy?
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