TORONTO – WestJet Airlines Ltd. (TSX:WJA) said Wednesday it has an exclusive arrangement to fly sun destination charter flights for Thomas Cook Canada next winter.
The announcement, which came less than a week after the leisure travel company made an early exit from a five-year deal with Jazz Aviation, will see WestJet provide all flights for Sunquest Vacations in the 2012-1013 winter season.
The winter program begins in November and follows on the heels of an already planned summer flying program Thomas Cook has with WestJet.
“Known for its quality, reliability and outstanding customer service, WestJet has been a key partner for Sunquest and the wider portfolio of Thomas Cook brands for the last couple of years,” said Dean Moore, CEO of Thomas Cook North America.
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“Following our recent review of the Sunquest business and specifically its charter flying program, WestJet provides us with the level of flexibility we needed, as well as the opportunity to expand our product offering by taking advantage of the significant scale of WestJet’s fleet and the breadth of their network.”
Halifax-based Jazz had been operating a fleet of six Boeing 757 jets for the British vacation company since 2010 to destinations in the Caribbean, Mexico and Central America in the winter season. That deal had another three years left when Thomas Cook decided to end it last week.
At the time, Thomas Cook said it needed to have more “flexible”‘ arrangements, citing what it called “a change in market dynamics.”
“The consequence of that is the decision to discontinue our dedicated fleet of 757 aircraft,” it said.
Jazz, the operating arm of Chorus Aviation Inc. (TSX:CHR.B), said it will cease flying planes for Thomas Cook at the end of April, the conclusion of the tour company’s winter travel season.
Moore said on Wednesday that the extension of Thomas Cook’s agreement with WestJet was a “natural choice” in light of its decision to discontinue deploying company aircraft in Canada.
“It (WestJet) has operated a significant portion of Sunquest’s winter flying program since the 2009-2010 season and the full summer program since 2010,” Moore said.
WestJet president and CEO Gregg Saretsky said “Thomas Cook’s decision to fly from the Canadian market with our aircraft speaks to its confidence in what our WestJetters do so well.”
Thomas Cook North America is a division of Thomas Cook Group plc, one of the world’s leading leisure travel groups with sales of $15.7 billion, 23.6 million customers and 31,000 employees.
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