It’s strange you can go shopping for one thing, and buy something totally different… as is the case for WestJet. The Canadian Airline has been shopping, and has come away with some Boeing 787 Dreamliners.
Westjet Boeing 787 Dreamliner – Rendering, Westjet.
The airline has orders for 10 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners (the first stretch of the 787), with options for another 10 aircraft. The aircraft will be fitted with General Electric’s GEnx-1B Engine.
Deliveries of the type will commence between 2019 and December 2021. If the options are taken up, these will be delivered between 2020 and 2024. The airline will convert its firm order for 15 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft into options which can be taken up between 2022 and 2024.
Gregg Saretsky, WestJet President and CEO is excited for the order, stating:
“This order represents an exciting new chapter in WestJet’s history,” said “We have carefully executed on our strategic plan, first launching WestJet Encore to connect smaller communities across Canada to our growing network followed by our successful venture into wide-body flying to Hawaii and London Gatwick. Now, with the most sophisticated commercial airliner available, we turn our attention to further growing our international presence and introducing even more travellers to our award-winning guest experience.”
The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner is a state-of-the-art aircraft that is 20 per cent more fuel efficient than the Boeing 767 aircraft. With a range of more than 14,000 kilometres, the Dreamliner will give WestJet the ability to serve new destinations in Asia and South America, and to expand its service offerings into the European market.
Westjet’s experience of long haul flying has so far been the use of Boeing 737s and four Boeing 767s to Hawaii and London. Adding 10 aircraft to the fleet marks a massive expansion by the Canadian carrier. And that will be a fair lump of capacity if WestJet deploy the capacity over the Atlantic – or over the Pacific.
Using a Boeing 787-9 opens up a lot of routes that could only be thought of as “ooh, that’s a nice idea” in the past.
No announcement of internal products for the plane has been announced (although the Lift by Encore seat would make a great choice in Economy…), so this will be one to watch.
And as for the legacy carriers – they will be watching too. Air Canada currently operates its some of its 767s with Air Canada Rouge, whilst other carriers will pay attention to WestJet’s activities.
This could have wider repercussions in the Canadian aviation industry, as well as North America when another low cost carrier comes along to challenge for seats.
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