Low-cost airline «Swoop»

Swoop is a Canadian ultra low cost carrier (ULCC) owned by WestJet. It was officially announced on September 27, 2017 and made its maiden flight on June 20, 2018. The company is based in Calgary and is named after WestJet’s desire to «Swoop» (or jump) into the Canadian market with a new model of business. On February 1, 2018, Swoop officially began selling tickets to the public, announcing Hamilton’s John C. Munro International Airport as its main base and Edmonton International Airport as its western base. In October 2020, Swoop moved its eastern base to Toronto’s Pearson International Airport.In April 2017, WestJet announced that it was planning to launch a new airline to enter the growing ultra-low-cost carrier (ULCC) market and compete with NewLeaf (now Flair Airlines). The airline’s launch was scheduled for late 2017, but was postponed to June 2018. The delay allowed WestJet to reconfigure planes during the spring 2018 season.

Swoop was officially launched on September 27, 2017 and was supposed to have 40% lower base rates than WestJet’s. Tickets first became available for sale on February 1, 2018.

On June 20, 2018, Swoop officially inaugurated flight operations with two Boeing 737-800s. The first flight was from John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport to Abbotsford International Airport, with passengers paying an average of CAD 103 for the flight.

On August 2, 2018, Swoop announced that it would become the first Canadian ultra-low-cost airline to fly to the United States, launching a service to Las Vegas, Phoenix, Tampa, Orlando and Fort Lauderdale throughout October 2018. Swoop has also announced flights to four other Mexican and Caribbean destinations in December 2018 and January 2019; Puerto Vallarta, Montego Bay, Cancun and Mazatlan. On October 20, 2018, Swoop delayed the launch of US flights until October 27, due to a lack of US approval. On June 24, 2019, Swoop announced Los Cabos as a new destination starting in November. On December 19, 2019, Swoop announced three new summer seasonal destinations including Victoria, Kamloops and a US destination, San Diego. On January 9, 2020, the airline expanded its East Coast network with three new destinations in St. John’s, Charlottetown and Moncton.