Number of U.S. seats to increase 38.3 per cent in 2008; WestJet adds U.S. and Sun destinations
A U.S. economic slide isn’t stopping double-digit passenger growth and seat capacity increases between Edmonton International Airport (EIA) and its 10 non-stop U.S. destinations. Edmonton’s robust economy is bucking the North American-wide trend for deep airline capacity reductions, especially in the U.S.
The outlook for continued growth was bolstered earlier this week with significant flight additions and capacity increases announced by WestJet. EIA currently serves 41 daily flights to and from the 10 U.S. destinations and that number will climb to 48 per daily in November 2008. The new flights are scheduled to begin in November, lifting EIA’s U.S. capacity increase to 38.3 per cent compared to November 2007, an extraordinary figure when set against the backdrop of high fuel prices and capacity decreases in U.S. routes and some Canada-U.S. routes in other Canadian cities.
“Overall, our passenger numbers to the end of June have increased by seven per cent over the same time period in 2007, which was a record-breaking year for us,” says Peter McCart, EIA Vice-President, Marketing. “This strong growth is underpinned by remarkable 14 per cent passenger growth in the U.S. market, indicating Edmonton’s and Northwestern Canada’s economies remain strong in an overall softening North American economy.”