The Third Air Route to Canada Opens... Incheon~Calgary Flight Launches

Canadian airline WestJet to codeshare with Korean Air

At Gate 46 of Incheon Airport Terminal 1 on the 18th, WestJet and Incheon International Airport Corporation officials are taking a commemorative photo at the 'WestJet New Route Launch Ceremony.' (Photo by Incheon International Airport Corporation)

A regular route connecting Incheon International Airport and Calgary International Airport in Canada will be newly established.

Incheon International Airport Corporation announced on the 20th that WestJet, the second largest airline in Canada, will jointly operate a direct regular route between Incheon and Calgary together with Korean Air.

The newly launched Incheon-Calgary route is the third direct regular route to Canada following Vancouver and Toronto. WestJet chose Incheon as its second Asian destination after Tokyo, Japan, where it started operations last year. As of last year, about 24,000 passengers traveled between Incheon and Calgary via intermediate stops such as Vancouver. Through the joint operation with Korean Air, WestJet is expected to accelerate securing potential demand not only between the two countries but also in the Asian region.

The route will be operated using a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner with 320 seats. The flight time from Incheon to Calgary is 10 hours and 20 minutes.

The corporation plans to promote the new destination through mutual digital display advertising within the airports in cooperation with Calgary Airport, and will also provide marketing incentives to support the stable operation and settlement of the new airline WestJet.

John Weatherill, Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer of WestJet Group, said, "Decades of mutual cooperation and trade history between Canada and Korea laid the foundation for WestJet's launch of the Korean route," adding, "It will become a milestone to strengthen cultural exchange and economic ties between the two countries."

Lee Hak-jae, President of Incheon International Airport Corporation, said, "We will cooperate with airlines and others to steadily increase air travel demand so that the new route can operate stably."