Next spring WestJet is planning to start operating flights from St. John’s Canada to Dublin Ireland. This would further ramp up competition with rival Air Canada. By connecting to Dublin, passengers could then take advantage of the many low cost airlines operating in Europe, such as Ryanair that has its hub in Dublin. Passengers could also rent cars once in Europe and continue their travel by car. Flying to Europe would also increase the flow of international passengers who are planning to come to Canada and once in St. John’s they could further their travel on board WestJet to any point in Canada.

Flying to Europe however can present many challenges to the company, which WestJet is not prepared to deal with. For example the fact that the airline would be flying from St. John’s and not from the major canadian cities could push passengers off and at the end they would still choose to use major international airlines like Air Canada. The airline would also have to purchase larger airlines in order to become competitive in the market. However passengers who are not in hurry and care about the price tag would most likely use WestJet since it is more affordable.

Blog by Chris Sorensen: http://www2.macleans.ca/2013/11/15/westjet-bound-for-europe/