CALGARY — WestJet’s inaugural flight between Calgary and Dublin took off on June 1, making it the only airline to operate a nonstop route between the two cities.

Flight WS6 marked the last of three 787 Dreamliner inaugurals that the carrier considers central to its global strategy and focus on YYC as its initial Dreamliner hub.

“With the launch of our third transatlantic Dreamliner flight, WestJet adds to our exceptional growth into and out of Calgary, where we remain the airline with the most destinations and departures,” said Arved von zur Muehlen, WestJet Chief Commercial Officer. “With more than 4.5 million Canadians claiming Irish heritage, we are pleased to be providing Canadians with easy access between Western Canada and Ireland.”

This latest Dreamliner route adds to WestJet’s existing 787-9 flights between Calgary, Paris and London (Gatwick). In addition, its Calgary-Dublin service complements its existing seasonal Halifax-Dublin route. WestJet has been operating flights to Dublin from Eastern Canada since 2014.

Jim Kelly, Embassy of Ireland, Ambassador, said he was “delighted” to welcome the launch: “WestJet’s new service will provide a major expansion of air connectivity between Western Canada and Ireland. I have no doubt that it will open new avenues for business connections and leisure tourism between Ireland and Alberta, a province where more than half a million people claim Irish heritage.”

Calgary-Dublin operates 3x weekly (Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday) from June 1 to Oct. 5, after which it will decrease to 2x weekly (Wednesday and Saturday) from Oct. 6-19. The reverse route, Dublin-Calgary, operates 3x weekly (Monday, Thursday, Sunday) from June 2 to Oct. 6, and goes down to 2x weekly (Thursday, Sunday) from Oct. 7-20.

By June 2019, WestJet will offer flights to 67 nonstop destinations with an average of 975 flights per week from Calgary.