WestJet Airlines says it is only dipping its toe in European waters with next summer's launch of service to Dublin.
Chief financial officer Vito Culmone told a transportation conference on Tuesday that there are potentially four or five other markets that could be serviced from St. John's, NL, using three of the airline's narrowbody Boeing 737-700 aircraft.
He says the Calgary-based airline will use its first European foray to learn about the market and its different regulations, operational requirements, taxation and carbon emissions rules.
The 2014 summer schedule is set, so any new destinations would have to wait, a company official later clarified.
Culmone also says WestJet's new regional Encore service could eventually generate up $400 million to $600 million in additional annual revenue it the airline gets its expected share of the $2-billion market in Canada and the United States.
Encore operates six Q400 turboprops in Western Canada, but plans to launch service in Eastern Canada next summer and have 16 planes by year-end when service is extended across Canada. Service to the United States could be added by the end of 2015.
WestJet has firm orders for 20 Bombardier aircraft and options for 25 more to reach its estimate of the number of planes needed for a mature market.
