WestJet is big-time bullish on Kelowna for the upcoming winter season.
Hot on the heels of Alaska Airlines announcing it will bring back daily service to Seattle starting Dec. 19, WestJet has revealed that for the first time it will start flying between Kelowna and Washington state's largest city five times a week beginning Jan. 17 and daily from Feb. 17.
The difference with WestJet's flights are they will be year-round, whereas the Alaska service is seasonal to serve ski tourism and will end sometime in March.
Also as part of WestJet's peak winter schedule announcement, the airline has made public that it will bring back non-stops to sun destinations Cancun, Puerto Vallarta, Los Cabos, Mazatlan, Phoenix and Las Vegas -- most of them with more frequency.
For instance, starting Oct. 27, the airline will start flying up to six times a week (Sundays, Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays) between Kelowna and Cancun, up from the three weekly it did last winter.
Frequency to Puerto Vallarta will be up to three weekly this winter compared to twice weekly last winter.
Cabo will be twice a week, up from weekly last year.
And Phoenix flights will also double, from once a week to twice a week.
Non-stop service to Mazatlan will remain once a week.
Technically, Kelowna-Mazatlan is a new route for WestJet because last year it was offered by Swoop, the now shuttered subsidiary of WestJet.
Now back to WestJet's Kelowna-Seattle flights.
"As we continue to strengthen our service across Western Canada, we are proud to connect Kelowna with new daily WestJet service to Seattle as part of our expanded winter schedule," said executive vice-president John Weatherill.
"This route will provide guests in the Okanagan and across the Pacific Northwest regions with new convenient and affordable options to easily connect between popular regions for business and leisure year-round."
The Kelowna-Seattle flight will take off at 9 am and land about an hour later, allowing time to connect to one of 24 codeshare destinations in the western US via WestJet's partner Delta Air Lines.
Those codeshare cities include Portland, San Francisco, Phoenix, San Diego and Los Angeles.
Speaking of LA, Alaska Airlines is introducing daily non-stops between Kelowna and LAX starting Dec. 19 for the winter.
Back to WestJet's service to Seattle.
The Seattle-Kelowna leg will depart at 12:37 pm and arrive around an hour later, giving passengers same-day tim to hit the ski slopes, get out on Okanagan Lake or visit a winery.
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"WestJet has been a valued partner for Kelowna International Airport for 28 years and demonstrate their commitment to our region through continued expansion of the domestic and international network available from YLW," said Kelowna airport CEO Sam Samaddar.
"I would like to thank WestJet for their dedication to the Okanagan, which allows the growth of our airport and provides benefits to our entire community -- from access to travel for business and leisure to economic development here at home."
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WestJet launched in 1996 as a low-cost carrier serving just five cities -- Kelowna, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Winnipeg.
It grew quickly and was responsible for bringing down fares, getting more people to travel and taking Kelowna airport along for the ride.
Before WestJet, Kelowna airport didn't have anywhere near the number of destinations, frequency and passengers it does now.
In fact, Kelowna airport has grown to serve more than two million passengers a year, to 21 non-stop destinations, including those Mexican sunspots on WestJet's schedule, with almost 70 flights a day.
WestJet now flies in and out of 100 cities in 26 countries.
Here's WestJet's winter 2024-25 peak schedule for Kelowna:
Here are the other non-stop flights this winter:
- Kelowna-Los Angeles, daily with Alaska Airlines starting Dec. 19 (seasonal for the winter only)
- Kelowna-Seattle, daily with Alaska Airlines starting Dec. 19 (seasonal for the winter only)
- Kelowna-Mazatlan, weekly on Thursdays with Sunwing starting Dec. 14 (seasonal)
- Kelowna-Cancun, weekly on Fridays with Sunwing starting Dec. 15 (seasonal)
- Kelowna-Prince George, daily with Pacific Coastal Airlines starting Oct. 28 (year-round)
Kelowna also has Air Canada flights to Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Montreal; Pacific Coastal to Victoria, Nanaimo and Comox; Air North to Vancouver (with same plane service to Whitehorse); Flair to Edmonton and Vancouver; WestJet summer service to Saskatoon, Regina and Winnipeg; and Central Mountain Air to Prince George.
