Route Analysis: Calgary-Paris

WestJet has restored flights to Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) from Calgary (YYC), just days after starting a route from the Canadian city to Amsterdam (AMS). Service to France’s capital resumed on Aug. 20, operating once a week using Boeing 787-9s. The current schedule will remain in place until the end of October.

“Calgary to Paris is a key market for inbound tourism to Western Canada,” WestJet CCO John Weatherill said. “Alongside a successful vaccination rollout across Canada, we are proud to see this route return and will continue to invest in the economic recovery and growth of both Calgary and Alberta [province], following the COVID-19 pandemic.”

With the restart of service to Paris, the airline is now offering flights to three European destinations from YYC. Flights to AMS and London Gatwick (LGW) are each operating twice a week, with both markets increasing to 3X-weekly in September. WestJet is also flying 4X-weekly from Toronto (YYZ) to LGW.

The return of Calgary-Paris restores WestJet's longstanding codeshare partnership with Air France, giving Canadian business and leisure travelers the ability to connect to and from 16 cities in Europe, including Athens, Lisbon, Rome and Venice.

WestJet launched the YYC-CDG route in May 2019 and is the sole provider of nonstop flights between the cities. According to data provided by Sabre Market Intelligence, O&D traffic between Calgary and Paris totaled almost 53,000 two-way passengers in 2019—up from about 24,000 during the previous 12 months.

WestJet said its investment in direct flights from Europe to Alberta drove C$90 million ($71 million) in spend from inbound travelers during 2019.

YYC-CDG

Photo credit: Rob Finlayson