WestJet partners could bring overseas passengers to Las Vegas

A WestJet airplane takes off from McCarran International Airport on Friday, Aug. 26, 2011.

A flurry of code-share agreements negotiated by WestJet, McCarran International Airport’s busiest international air carrier, could lead to more overseas visitation from all over the world through Canada.

Airline executives said they are open to marketing connecting flights to Las Vegas with their new airline partners if it makes sense to connect passengers through WestJet’s network.

WestJet currently operates 77 round trips a week between Las Vegas and 13 Canadian cities, some of them on a seasonal basis.

Through September, WestJet has flown nearly 397,000 passengers to Las Vegas, more than one-third of the total number of international travelers to the city.

That could increase in future months.

In Wednesday’s WestJet earnings call, company executives detailed a series of code-share agreements with several airlines, most of them international carriers with no presence at McCarran.

Earlier in the quarter, WestJet launched a code-share agreement with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines with plans of announcing another in December. The company didn’t release what airline would sign an agreement.

The company currently has a code-share deal with Cathay Pacific, based in Hong Kong, and interline agreements with El Al, Tel Aviv, Israel; Emirates, Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Qantas, Sydney, Australia; Japan Airlines, Tokyo; and Korean Air of Seoul. Of those, only Korean Air serves McCarran.

Code-share agreements generally involve numbering a flight with an airline’s code while interlining is ticketing a passenger’s itinerary using multiple carriers.

In the United States, WestJet also has a code-share agreement with American Airlines and a deal with Delta Air Lines is pending government approval.

The large number of airline agreements is a part of WestJet’s growth strategy of connecting Canadian customers to the world. But those deals can also bring customers of those airlines to Las Vegas, one of WestJet’s best destinations.

“Our airline partnership growth strategy remains on track as we continue to form alliances with leading airlines from around the world and connect new global traffic flows to our WestJet network,” Gregg Saretsky, WestJet’s president and CEO, said in a release on the company’s third-quarter earnings.

In a conference call, executives said marketing Las Vegas to its airline partners would be explored.

WestJet, Canada’s second-largest airline, now has 97 Boeing 737 jets and will take delivery of three more next year.

In U.S. dollars, the company reported earnings of $38.4 million on revenue of $757.6 million compared with $42.8 million on revenue of $668.6 million in the same quarter a year ago.

Real Estate

Share