By Allison Lampert
(Reuters) – WestJet Airlines is restoring some suspended domestic routes from June, as executives hope that a pick-up in COVID-19 vaccinations can salvage summer travel, Canada’s second-largest carrier said on Wednesday.
While Canada has trailed the United States on the pace of its vaccine rollout, supplies are expected to ramp up over the next two weeks, and Canada’s top vaccine coordinator expects there should be enough to give every citizen a first dose by the end of June.
“That’s the type of encouraging news that’s allowed us to make today’s announcement,” Andy Gibbons, WestJet’s director, government relations, told reporters.
Onex Corp-owned Westjet would resume flights to five airports serving Atlantic Canada and Quebec, beginning June 24.
Canada’s largest carrier Air Canada will also resume summer service to certain destinations that are seasonal or were suspended due to COVID-19.
Gibbons called for government to transition away by May 1 from crippling requirements that oblige international travelers to self-isolate for up to three days in a hotel, before completing a 14-day quarantine.
He said WestJet’s announcement was unrelated to a government demand to protect regional routes as part of talks to reach a financial aid package for the aviation sector.
Calgary-based WestJet, which currently operates at around 10% of pre-pandemic traffic, is restoring routes of “its own volition,” said chief commercial officer John Weatherill.
Asked during a Wednesday radio interview about reopening Canada’s land border with the United States, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said “it won’t be right away, because cases are still high on both sides of the border.”
($1 = 1.2545 Canadian dollars)
(Reporting By Allison Lampert in Montreal. Additional reporting by Allison Martel in Toronto and Julie Gordon in Ottawa; editing by John Stonestreet)
