WestJet and the Okanagan Wine Festivals Society announced a partnership July 15 for WestJet subsidiary WestJet Encore to start serving a wide range of B.C. wines on all its B.C. flights.
WestJet Encore is a regional airline that launched operations on June 24 using a fleet of Bombardier Dash 8 Q400s. Its initial routes service Calgary, Vancouver, Victoria, Nanaimo and Fort St. John.
"Having worked with the wineries of British Columbia through the Okanagan Wine Festivals Society for more than 10 years, we know that the wines of B.C. are extremely well respected," said Marshall Wilmot, WestJet's vice-president of product and distribution.
The airline will pour wines from wineries that are members of the Okanagan Wine Festivals Society.
Wines poured this month will be from Gray Monk Estate Winery, Lang Vineyards, Oliver Twist, Perseus Winery, Blasted Church Vineyards, SunnyBrae Vineyards in Tappen, The View Winery, Therapy Vineyards, St, Hubertus Winery and Wayne Gretzky Okanagan.
In August, wines poured on WestJet Encore planes will be from Road 13 Vineyards, the Vibrant Vine, Ganton & Larsen Prospect Winery, Sumac Ridge Estate Winery, See Ya Later Ranch, Inniskillin Okanagan Estate Winery, and Jackson Triggs Okanagan Estate.
The promotion, which so far only applies to July and August, is modelled after a successful Horizon Air program in the U.S. of California and Oregon wines. The promotion is the first for a major Canadian air carrier.
