CALGARY — WestJet has selected London, England as the first transatlantic destination from Canada for its wide-body Boeing 767-300 aircraft.

Service from Canada to London will be through London Gatwick.

“This news marks the next phase in the international portion of our strategic plan,” said Bob Cummings, WestJet Executive Vice-President, Commercial. “WestJet is at the right scale to make this step in our evolution. Combined with our low-cost approach and renowned people-driven service, we have the network, brand and infrastructure to successfully enter and grow in the wide-body market. We look forward to announcing, later this summer, our entire schedule and low-fare approach for the spring of 2016.”

“Well-managed and efficient airports like Gatwick are ideal for low-cost airlines like WestJet,” said Chris Avery, WestJet Vice-President, Network

Planning, Alliances and Corporate Development. “We love Gatwick as a convenient airport with great connectivity to central London and access to other low-cost airlines flying to points in Europe and beyond.

“Wide-body capability now allows us to serve London Gatwick from anywhere in Canada and brings into consideration more international destinations in the future. The Canadian cities we will fly from will be determined over the course of this summer,” said Cummings.

“We will meet with airports across the country to determine the most suitable ones we believe will meet our needs and those of our guests.”

Further announcements on schedules, pricing and launch cities will be communicated later this summer with service commencing in spring 2016.