WestJet flew an all-time high of two million passengers in July, thanks in part to increased traffic through Vancouver International Airport (YVR).
That passenger count is 6.6%, or about 126,000 passengers higher than in the same month in 2015, the airline announced August 10.
The Calgary-based airline (TSX:WJA) increased capacity in its planes by 10.7%, compared with July 2015, and notched an increase of 13.9% in the cumulative total number of miles flown when adding all individual passengers together.
Combined, that meant that WestJet’s planes were 85.2% full during the month. That’s the second most full that the 20-year-old airline has ever been during a month of July.
“Vancouver is a fantastic growth story for WestJet, although I am unable to confirm the exact number of guests as this is competitive information,” WestJet spokeswoman Lauren Stewart told Business in Vancouver in an email.
She estimated that WestJet has increased its capacity in the Vancouver region by 65% during the past decade.
It is the second largest airline flying out of YVR, ranked by the number of outbound seats in the year that ended June 30, according to BIV’s 2016 list of largest carriers flying out of YVR .
Air Canada had a capacity of 5,980,471 seats out of YVR in the year ended June 30. WestJet’s capacity of 2,896,237 outbound seats was a strong second, given that the No. 3 carrier out of YVR, United Airlines, had a capacity of 612,362 seats on its planes flying out of YVR.
WestJet offers 70 daily flights on 35 non-stop routes from YVR to 100 WestJet destinations, according to the company.
In the past year, according to WestJet, it has added the following new flights out of YVR:
•Vancouver-Gatwick six times weekly;
•Vancouver-Halifax four times weekly;
•Vancouver–Hamilton three times weekly;
•Vancouver-London, Ontario four times weekly;
It has also added additional weekly flights, such as:
•Three between Vancouver and San Diego;
•21 between Vancouver and Kelowna;
•Seven between Vancouver and Prince George;
•four between Vancouver and Toronto;
•one between Vancouver and Honolulu;
•one between Vancouver and Cancun;
•one between Vancouver and Cabo San Lucas; and
•six between Vancouver and Los Angeles;
Flights between Vancouver and Montreal have increased to be six year-round flights per week, up from being seasonal.
