WestJet has undoubtedly become a driving force in Canadian aviation. The airline has grown to become a major force not only in domestic Canadian travel but also for long haul services. As the summer season draws closer the airline is looking to spruce up its offering for incoming and outgoing leisure traffic. Leisure is definitely the category under which WestJet’s new Amsterdam to Halifax service falls. Let me help you explore the ins and outs of this new service.
WS70 Halifax to Amsterdam Flight Coming Summer 2025
During the winter months WestJet retreats and primarily focuses on offering flights from its stronghold of Calgary. However, come summer, as is the case with many other airlines in North America and in Europe, seasonal routes start operating to intercept the yearly uplift in leisure passengers making he transatlantic crossing to reach their holiday destination.
Therefore, coming out of the winter season, WestJet broadens its focus away from Calgary alone and starts operating transoceanic flights from other Canadian cities. Halifax is one of them. The capital of Nova Scotia becomes the gateway to the region of holiday makers looking to enjoy its natural beauty.
The latest WestJet network expansion in the region will have it operating flights to one of Europe’s largest aviation hubs, Amsterdam in the Netherlands.
The flight, as alluded to above, is a seasonal connection which will be quite frequent throughout the warm months. Halifax will have 6 weekly services connecting it to Amsterdam Schiphol (every day except Wednesdays). With the service first taking off on May 29th 2025.
The flight’s schedule will be as follows:
- Flight WS70 will depart Halifax (YHZ) at 23:45 –> Arriving in Amsterdam (AMS) at 11:00
- Flight WS71 will depart Amsterdam (AMS) at 14:00 –> Arriving in Halifax (YHZ) at 16:20
Finally, let’s talk about the aircraft type. As Halifax is situated on the eastern end of Canada on the Atlantic coast, it makes WS70 the ideal service to deploy a narrow body aircraft on. WestJet as it does with many other seasonal transatlantic flights, I’ll delve deeper into that in just a little, will be using for its new Halifax to Amsterdam flight its Boeing 737 MAX 8 fleet. These planes feature a 2 class configuration with:
- 12 Premium seats in a 2-2 layout (3 rows).
- 162 Standard economy seats in a 3-3 layout.
A New WestJet Transatlantic Flight On The Boeing 737 MAX
As mentioned above WestJet is in no way a newcomer to transatlantic leisure routes. One of the quirkiest routes the airline operates is its London Gatwick to St. John’s International Airport (in Newfoundland) WS53. That flight too is operated using a Boeing 737 MAX 8 and is also a clearly leisure oriented service as are the other 4 that WestJet will be operating from Halifax to Europe in 2025. The list of destinations includes:
- Dublin
- Paris (CDG)
- Edinburgh
- London (Gatwick)
- Amsterdam (Starting May 29th 2025)
A Growing International and Long Haul Presence for the Canadian Airline
WestJet has tipped its toes in some serious long range services in the past 12 months. Just to name one its new service from its primary base in Calgary to Seoul Incheon International Airport. It’s interesting to see the airline expand its presence on the international market.
Other already standing year round long-haul services include those to Tokyo Narita, Paris CDG and London Heathrow. These are all served using the airline’s fleet of Boeing 787 Dreamliners and of course originate from WestJet’s primary hub of Calgary, Alberta.