West-Jet, an airline more commonly known for its trans-America flights, is on track to land some flights in Ireland.  The airline is planning to add four hour and fifteen minute-connecting flights to Dublin from Ottawa, Halifax, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg and other cities in the airline’s network.  The non-stop flights will begin next June and will run on a seasonal basis from June to October.  Their measured venture into trans-Atlantic flights allows them to step-outside of their niche and explore possibilities for longer flights, especially endeavors into the European air space.

“ [This] is an opportunity for us to gain a better understanding of what it’s like to operate in Europe,” said WestJet spokesperson Robert Palmer.

(http://smartcanucks.ca/westjet-save-25-off-econo-fare-category-flights/)

Airline companies run the risk of bankruptcy if they become too ambitious and attempt to provide long-haul flights through the purchase of bigger planes, as we learned in Class 5, so West-Jet’s subtle and strategic approach to ease into these European flights is clever.  The key to their previous success lay in their ability to specialize in trans-America flights but by slowly expanding their niche they allow themselves to test their ability to gain profit from these new trans-Atlantic flights.  If this venture fails, the risk is not as great compared to if they hastily jumped into broadening their flight plans.  In the future, if all goes well, providing direct flights from Canada to Europe would definitely bring in more customers as it allows passengers to access Europe without having to go through major cities such as Toronto.

Sources:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/westjet-to-go-transatlantic-with-flights-to-dublin-1.2427850

http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/docview/864615241