CALGARY — WestJet’s just-released August schedule includes 200+ daily flights to 48 destinations across Canada, the U.S., the Caribbean, Mexico and Europe. Some 39 domestic airports serve as Canadian gateways.

Arved von zur Muehlen, WestJet’s Chief Commercial Officer, says the updated schedule is supported by the layered framework WestJet has built to ensure Canadians can continue to travel safely and responsibly through the airline’s Safety Above All hygiene program.

“With the many safeguards and procedures in place, we are certain Canadians can safely resume travel to destinations across our network,” said von zur Muehlen. “We continue to adapt our schedule to meet the needs of our guests and through our continued investments economies can begin to recover with the support of domestic tourism driven by air travel.”

Passengers can also take advantage of flexibility in booking, change and cancellation policies, he adds.

Starting July 15 and running through Sept. 4 WestJet will increase domestic frequencies and offer operations to 48 destinations including 39 in Canada, five in the U.S., two in Europe, one in the Caribbean, one in Mexico.

The airline is reintroducing nonstop Dreamliner service from Calgary to London (Gatwick) and Paris starting Aug. 20 and will continue to serve five key transborder destinations including Atlanta, Las Vegas, L.A., New York (LaGuardia) and Orlando.

The airline will also offer service to Cancun and will resume operations once-weekly to Montego Bay.

“Despite these headwinds, we are committed to ensuring air travel remains affordable and accessible to Canadians from coast-to-coast during this difficult time,” said von zur Muehlen. “While an increase in flying is a positive sign, we are prudently monitoring our guests loads to ensure we are managing our airline and the health of our guests and crew responsibly.”

He adds: ”The patchwork of domestic travel restrictions and quarantine periods that are currently in place within our own borders are severely limiting Canada’s economic recovery and putting hundreds of thousands of jobs in our critical industry at risk. We must standardize intra-provincial travel advice to ensure Canadians can move safely and freely across our country.”

WestJet is part of the #timetotravel initiative as a member of the Canadian Travel & Tourism Roundtable, which in June sent an open letter to the federal and provincial governments calling for the loosening of travel restrictions, first in Canada and then internationally.

WestJet’s August schedule represents a 10% increase in flying from July 2020. But it’s still down about 75% from August 2019.

ALBERTA AND NORTHWEST TERRITORIES

BRITISH COLUMBIA AND YUKON

ONTARIO

SASKATCHEWAN AND MANITOBA

QUEBEC

ATLANTIC CANADA

At this time, the airline is planning on operating the following transborder and international routes from July 16 to September 4, 2020.

Temporary domestic route suspensions for July 16 – September 4, 2020.