Westjet to operate first Dublin-Canada flights

Canadian airline Westjet has will operate its first transatlantic service to Dublin from next summer.

Both the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) and Westjet have confirmed that the carrier will begin non-stop flights from St John's, Newfoundland, and direct services (with the same aircraft) from Toronto to Dublin between June and October next year.

Dublin will be the first European destination served by the airline based in Alberta, Calgary, which serves routes in North and South America and the Caribbean. Westjet will fly daily from Toronto, stopping over in St John's and then travelling on to Dublin.

Aer Lingus and Air Canada will both operate services between Dublin and Toronto next year. Westjet is a low-fare carrier and it is offering its Toronto service at a base one-way fare of €211 and St John's at €141.

DAA chief executive Kevin Toland welcomed the news, saying the routes already announced for the airport for next year would deliver another year of strong growth.

"We have added one million extra passengers over the past 12 months, with significant growth in long-haul traffic to both North America and the Middle East," he said.

"The new routes and expansions for next year already announced by customers such as Westjet, Ryanair, Aer Lingus, Norwegian and Air Canada Rouge will continue and strengthen our recent growth phase."

Westjet vice president Chris Avery noted that from Dublin, travellers could fly to more than 100 European cities.