Emirates and Westjet Interline Agreement

[jetsetfly]

Calgary-based WestJet and Dubai-based Emirates have entered into an interline agreement that offers airline passengers expanded global travel.

The new arrangement makes global travel more accessible for outbound passengers who can now connect to the Emirates network via WestJet, travelling to Dubai and beyond to any of the 114 destinations that Emirates flies. The partnership will also help to boost tourism, business and investment from the United Arab Emirates and countries throughout the airline’s global network to the numerous Canadian cities served by WestJet.

“Emirates’ partnership with WestJet will allow travelers to explore our vast network of diverse and remarkable destinations with added ease and seamless connections on Canada’s most celebrated airline,” said Don McWilliam, Canadian manager of Emirates, in a statement.

Emirates flies three times weekly from Toronto to Dubai and on to more than 100 destinations around the world. The new partnership allows travelers to book flights with connecting service on WestJet to more than 20 cities across Canada where WestJet flies.

Bruce Graham, president and chief executive of Calgary Economic Development, said direct access from the United Arab Emirates to Calgary has been a long-standing interest of the organization.

“We see the merits and would encourage direct access due to the synergies that we have with energy and the oil and gas industry,” he said. “We’ve been involved in encouraging airline connections and airline activity and direct access into Calgary from a variety of markets including Asia Pacific markets as well as Middle Eastern markets.

“The fact that an interline access agreement has been signed with WestJet is encouraging.”

Randy Williams, president and chief executive of Tourism Calgary, said the agreement between the two airlines could lead to more inbound traffic in the city and region.

“I think it’s good news for passengers, certainly travelers. It gives them another option,” he said.

The Emirates airlines has been in discussions with the Canadian federal government to increase flights to Canadian cities other than Toronto.

Robert Palmer, spokesperson for WestJet, said the Calgary-based airline has signed nine interline agreements this year and 15 are currently in place.

“We can bring more guests into our WestJet network through these sorts of interline arrangements,” said Palmer. “They provide a new channel or a new source of guests from other parts of the world and without us having to actually bring them to Canada using our own aircraft.

“The real advantage with these sorts of co-operation agreements is that they allow you to channel more guests, or bring more guests, into your domestic network.”

In Toronto, Emirates departs from Terminal 1 and WestJet operates from Terminal 3. Passengers will have to connect through a two-minute airport train transfer system that runs regularly between the two terminals.

The Emirates airline was launched in 1985.

Emirates serves 114 cities around the globe.

WestJet offers scheduled service throughout its 71-city North American and Caribbean network.

“WestJet never enters into this kind of thing lightly,” said Mark Benson, a faculty member specializing in aviation at the Bissett School of Business at Mount Royal University. “I think they probably have thought this through very well and understand what they’re doing. Their success is just about unprecedented. So they have an idea of how they should be expanding and how they should be growing.

“WestJet has a fairly classic movement style where they have a hub and spoke type of system primarily both based in Calgary and a little bit based out east in Toronto . . . It’s huge for Canadians because it means we can now very easily using WestJet’s hub and spoke system get to Toronto and obviously reach across the planet. And for people coming the other way. Once upon a time if you were sitting in Dubai, the idea that you could get to Grande Prairie, Alberta, was pretty remote. It would be a pretty tough thing to do. But now this makes it a lot easier to reach almost anywhere in the country.”

[whiteguy]

Getting to YQU from Dubai wasn't that remote since AC has interline with EK. Nice spin, must be a Calgary paper!

[ahramin]

said Mark Benson, a faculty member specializing in aviation at the Bissett School of Business at Mount Royal University.

Heck of a school of business with profs like these.

[bmc]

Getting to YQU from Dubai wasn't that remote since AC has interline with EK. Nice spin, must be a Calgary paper!

Systems will give preference to a Westjet/Emirates flight as pricing will be filed over the two airlines and restricted on those two airlines.

And, Emirates has a far stronger brand in terms of service that a YQU passenger will more likely come off a Europe connecting flight, moving over to the EK.

AC loses this time around.