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Up To 7h 20m: Air Canada Cuts Its Longest Boeing 737 MAX Route
It was to be the carrier’s longest-ever MAX-operated route.
Up to 7h 20m
The route, which will cover 2,652 nautical miles (4,912 km) each way, is scheduled as follows, with all times local. Notice the long three-hour turn time in the Netherlands. This could be because of a lack of slots—Amsterdam is renowned for this—or for more competitive onward connectivity over Amsterdam, Halifax, or both.
Halifax to Amsterdam: WS70, 23:45-11:00+1 (6h 15m block time)
Amsterdam to Halifax: WS71, 14:00-16:20 (7h 20m)
Image: GCMap
Focusing on WestJet’s own connectivity, passengers can easily connect to/from Toronto, Calgary, and Winnipeg with a short wait. Edmonton does not connect well in both directions, with passengers arriving from Alberta at 15:01, way too early for the 23:45 departure to Europe.
This connectivity, along with WestJet’s KLM codeshare, is vital, as booking data shows that Halifax-Amsterdam only had ~8,000 point-to-point passengers between June and October 2024, approximately 28 passengers daily each way. Yes, WestJet will increase traffic from non-stop flights, relatively low fares, and hopefully good promotions, but it will need more volume.
WestJet’s 17 European routes
Regardless of equipment, WestJet plans a record 17 European routes this summer from four Canadian airports. This is the case as of February 19 and may change. Some 11 of the 17 links will be exclusively on the 737 MAX 8 from St John’s, Halifax, Toronto, and Calgary.
Image: GCMap
WestJet’s prior record was 15 routes amid the pandemic in the summer of 2022. That was when the carrier’s Commercial Strategy Director said it would “refocus” by concentrating on its Calgary hub, where it could win.
The reorientation can be vividly seen in its European network, which more than halved in size the following year. However, it has increasingly returned to Europe, including from other Canadian cities, suggesting they are important to the redefined operator.
It helps that just two of its 11 MAX-operated routes have direct competition, with WestJet finding relatively thin niche markets. This rises to only three of its 17 routes when its 787s are included.
Source of data: Cirium Diio. Figure: James Pearson
WestJet’s longest European MAX routes
They are shown below in order of the maximum block time, all of which are back to North America due to headwinds. Frequencies are the maximum available in July:
7h 54m: Dublin back to Toronto (daily)
7h 40m: Edinburgh back to Toronto (daily)
7h 20m: Amsterdam back to Halifax (six weekly); starts in May
7h 05m: Keflavik back to Calgary (four weekly)
7h 05m: Paris CDG back to Halifax (four weekly); returns in May (last served in 2022)
7h 00m: London Gatwick back to Halifax (three weekly)
6h 20m: Edinburgh back to Halifax (three weekly)
6h 10m: Dublin back to Halifax (four weekly)
6h 05m: Paris CDG back to St John’s (weekly); starts in May
5h 55m: London Gatwick back to St John’s (four weekly)
5h 10m: Dublin back to St John’s (twice-weekly); returns in May (last served in 2018)
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Publish date : 2025-02-19 04:20:00
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