No. H092/06For release August 17, 2006
OTTAWA - The Honourable Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Transport,
Infrastructure and Communities, today announced the designation of WestJet to
operate scheduled international air services between Canada and the Caribbean
countries of Aruba, Antigua & Barbuda, the Bahamas, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands,
Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe, Jamaica, Martinique, and the Turks and Caicos
Islands.
"This designation is a positive step by Canada's new government to give greater
choices to Canadian travellers," said Minister Cannon. "The expanded air
services do not restrict how often WestJet can fly to these destinations, which
will facilitate trips between Canada and some of the leading tourist
destinations in the region."
Under the provisions of Canada's international air transportation policy, all
Canadian air carriers may apply to the Minister for designation to operate
scheduled international services. These latest designations were made possible
by the bilateral air transport agreements already in place with the respective
Caribbean countries.
In all cases, the agreements permit each country to designate any number of
airlines for the operation of scheduled air services to and from Canada. In
addition, there are no limits in any of the agreements on the frequency of
flights each designated airline is allowed to operate.
-- 30 --
Contacts:
Natalie Sarafian
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of Transport,
Infrastructure and Communities, Ottawa
613-991-0700
Lucie Vignola
Communications
Transport Canada, Ottawa
613-993-0055
Transport Canada is online at www.tc.gc.ca. Subscribe to news releases and speeches at apps.tc.gc.ca/listserv/ and keep up-to-date on the latest from Transport Canada.
This news release may be made available in alternative formats for persons with visual disabilities.
