It’s about to get a lot cheaper to fly south of the border. The ultra-low-cost airline Swoop has just announced that it will become Canada’s first budget airline to fly to the United States when it launches service to 5 popular American destinations in the fall.
Swoop which is part of the WestJet Airlines Ltd. family will begin with flights to Las Vegas from Abbotsford, B.C., and Edmonton, Alta., about four months after Swoop began to fly on October 11, 2018.
The flights will be going to Florida, Nevada and Arizona, service will be added in upcoming weeks between Hamilton, Ont., and Las Vegas as well as to the Florida cities of Fort Lauderdale, Orlando and Tampa Bay. Flights between Edmonton and Phoenix will start Oct. 27.
According to the CBC every day, one-way fares will start as low as $149 including tax. In addition to an everyday low price, Swoop will often offer 4,100 seats at low promotional fares of $99 and $119 for travel booked online until Feb. 13.
Why are the flights so cheap? As mentioned in our previous article about Swoop, Swoop’s model is based on passengers paying ancillary fees. Basically, you have to pay for anything over the lowest service possible including bags, premium seats and wifi.
According to WestJet, over 5 million Canadians cross the border by car every year to take cheaper flights from American destinations. With cheaper flights, this may encourage those travellers to come back to a Canadian airline.