Cardiff: WestJet Transatlantic News & Discussions

[Nuffsaid]

Fantastic news and a great frequency too. Now the public have to make this work. To all the detractors, tell your friends and family, get the message out on the various social media apps that you use, book a seat yourselves, help to make this work.
I shall be heading to Toronto next year.

 

[MrFenner]

Toronto Pearson – Cardiff (WestJet)

22MAY26 – 11SEP26 - 4 weekly 737 MAX 8

WS092 YYZ 2210 – 1015+1 CWL (7M8 x246)
WS093 CWL 1135 – 1430 YYZ (7M8 x357)

(Source; aeroroutes.com)

 

[Aviador]

Well done Cardiff. 👏

 

[MrFenner]

New direct flights from Cardiff Airport to Toronto with WestJet

The “official” release.

 

[79MX]

Fantastic news and a great frequency too. Now the public have to make this work. To all the detractors, tell your friends and family, get the message out on the various social media apps that you use, book a seat yourselves, help to make this work.
I shall be heading to Toronto next year.

I’ll also be heading to Toronto next year (I’ll be coming down from West Yorkshire to fly from CWL). Triple win for me, New UK airport flown from - New Country - Can visit my family in Canada. Well done to all involved with getting the route

 

[Tinkerman]

Fares from both CWL and GLA seem quite similar, so some good introductory fares to be had over the coming days it seems.

The amount of PR i’ve seen with this across all social media has been the most i’ve ever seen for a route from CWL. It will be down to the Canadians to wish to visit Wales, and also for outbound travellers from Wales, South West England and even the Midlands to use the service. It’s now there to be used. Massive news for CWL, well done to all involved - Incredible.

Hopefully this peaks the interest of other prospective airlines so they can continue to build.

 

[geoff]

This route certainly extends the catchment area of CWL, no competition west of London, or south of Manchester. Congratulations and well done to the team at CWL.

 

[fly4gigs]

I thought the fares weren't that bad until I saw they were each way...

I'll be looking at Expedia for bundles anyway...

 

[MrFenner]

If you’re a savvy traveller and can manage with carry-on baggage and a light snack, then basic return fares come in around £610-£630. If you want to add a check-in bag it’s an additional £82rtn.

There are of course various different options and packages they offer with regard to what you want included in the price you want to pay.

I checked the very same dates against LHR departures and the cheapest there was £611 with a mix of VS, BA and AC flight options…

Various other points aside regarding aircraft type and flight length, I think these are pretty standard fares and personally I would’ve expected them to be a little higher as per usual when flying from ‘the regions’.

Use it or lose it will be the key factor!

🤞

 

[Jack Ruckley]

I read this on the Wales Online article about the new route.

Obviously we know Wales Online are sometimes biased to hate Cardiff Airport but it would be interesting to see how much has been sent to Westjet or what financial offers they’ve been given (marketing, ground fees, route subsidy) to operate the route and what routes are classified as needing subsidies for key international routes the airport wants/needs.

It’s STILL FANTASTIC NEWS to see Westjet at Cardiff.

I’d like to see what the route development team do next and if they use subsidies from their pot of money for more key routes

 

[Jerry]

Financial support could mean a lot of things though it doesn't necessarily mean cash going straight to the airline itself it could mean certain cost's covered ie marketing of the route but if routes are subsidised then surely routes like Toronto should be ones considered? They facilitate inbound tourism and connectivity for the country and surely that's part of a government's job to encourage visitors and investment to boost the economy.

 

[MrFenner]

Financial support could mean a lot of things though it doesn't necessarily mean cash going straight to the airline itself it could mean certain cost's covered ie marketing of the route but if routes are subsidised then surely routes like Toronto should be ones considered? They facilitate inbound tourism and connectivity for the country and surely that's part of a government's job to encourage visitors and investment to boost the economy.

Not if BRS don’t like it…

🙈

 

[Jerry]

Not if BRS don’t like it…

🙈

Well that's down to them and tbh the lawyers. I'm sure BRS has subsidised/incentivised airlines or has had routes launched to it due to some sort of incentive for the airline in question down the years.

 

[Samdorob]

It may well be in the form of marketing Wales to Canada. It’ll be interesting to see how many Canadians make the journey - whether we’ll ever get to find out that figure.

 

[Jerry]

It may well be in the form of marketing Wales to Canada. It’ll be interesting to see how many Canadians make the journey - whether we’ll ever get to find out that figure.

Well I'd imagine it will be a figure the airport will be keeping an eye on and may well mention in the future.

I read this on the Wales Online article about the new route.

Obviously we know Wales Online are sometimes biased to hate Cardiff Airport but it would be interesting to see how much has been sent to Westjet or what financial offers they’ve been given (marketing, ground fees, route subsidy) to operate the route and what routes are classified as needing subsidies for key international routes the airport wants/needs.

It’s STILL FANTASTIC NEWS to see Westjet at Cardiff.

I’d like to see what the route development team do next and if they use subsidies from their pot of money for more key routes

The article also mentions that the flights from Cardiff to Toronto will be restricted to 154 passengers. Toronto to Cardiff is unaffected. The route is also expected to attract between 20,000-30,000 passengers.

Direct route from Wales to Canada announced in major boost for Cardiff Airport

The Cardiff to Toronto four times a week service will be operated by Canadian low-cost carrier WestJet

www.walesonline.co.uk

 

[Tinkerman]

I can’t see how it would be restricted to 154 seats based upon the available runway and conditions at CWL (Usually). That hasn’t been published elsewhere either, so I’m a little skeptical of that figure.

 

[Cardiffbay]

I believe the take of run of a 737 max 8 is around 8,300 feet mark at MTOW. Realistically at Cardif they are looking at around 6,500 feet so it could make sense they need to restrict it especially as during the summer they might be operating on some hotter days.

 

[Barry Man]

Posts on Facebook with people comparing prices with Heathrow through Skyscanner , are already saying it’s too expensive to fly from Cardiff compared to Heathrow . Just can’t win hopefully prices will be more competitive, just have too Waite and see.

 

[Foxlimayankee]

Posts on Facebook with people comparing prices with Heathrow through Skyscanner , are already saying it’s too expensive to fly from Cardiff compared to Heathrow . Just can’t win hopefully prices will be more competitive, just have too Waite and see.

Its definitely a niche route so will likely be more expensive. Airlines work on dynamic pricing so if seats aren't selling prices will likely come down.

Personally if I was using i would be comparing the options.

Fly from London

Drive down in the morning, potentially navigate rush hour on the M4 from Reading into London, pay £100 for parking and fuel on top, and have to endure a long drive home after a long haul flight.

Get a coach the night before (£30 return pp) and pay for a hotel (£100) and have to endure a long coach journey each way.

Fly from Cardiff

Much shorter drive and parking (£100)

Get the train to/from CWL. 50 mins each way from Cardiff (£15 return pp)
Swansea-CWL 1hr20 (£35 return pp)

 

[Jerry]

I can’t see how it would be restricted to 154 seats based upon the available runway and conditions at CWL (Usually). That hasn’t been published elsewhere either, so I’m a little skeptical of that figure.

Idk where they got it from. They must have been told by someone.
On Google flights the CWL-YYZ flight is down as a 7 hours 55 minutes with YYZ-CWL as 7 hours 5 minutes.
Looking at the seatmap in economy and there's 15 seats blocked off on both sectors.

Posts on Facebook with people comparing prices with Heathrow through Skyscanner , are already saying it’s too expensive to fly from Cardiff compared to Heathrow . Just can’t win hopefully prices will be more competitive, just have too Waite and see.

Cardiff will never beat Heathrow on prices there's just too much capacity. There's like 7 daily flights to Toronto on widebodies. It all depends on the person whether they're willing to pay extra for convenience or make the journey to Heathrow.