The inaugural WestJet Edmonton to Kamloops flight on July 6, 2025. (Image Credit: Kamloops Airport)

By Victor Kaisar

New WestJet Flight

Revived WestJet flight between Kamloops and Edmonton now operational

Jul 7, 2025 | 7:33 AM

KAMLOOPS — The new WestJet Encore flight between Kamloops and Edmonton took to the sky for the first time Sunday (July 6) evening, restoring a direct air connection between the two cities for the first time in nearly two years.

YKA Managing Director Jim Moroz told CFJC Today that there has been a lot of positive feedback for this new flight, which – at the moment – is set to operate through the peak summer travel season.

“The flight is July 6 to Aug. 31 as our hope is that it’s successful and that encourages WestJet to extend it or perhaps put a winter schedule for this,” Moroz said. “At this point, we’re focusing on the summer that we’ve been offered, and we’re looking forward to that.”

WestJet will use the De Havilland Dash 8-400 (Q400) aircraft to operate these direct flights between Kamloops and Edmonton on Fridays and Sundays. Flights are scheduled to arrive in Kamloops around 6:15 p.m. and they’re due to head back at 6:45 p.m.

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“Kamloops and area have long wanted this flight,” Moroz added. “It’s been here in the past and we’re excited to welcome them back. We know there is demand for the flight and the response from the community and our stakeholders has all been positive.”

“I think they just want the flight to be extended.”

WestJet briefly flew between Kamloops and Edmonton in 2021, but those flights did not perform as expected owing to a lack of available flight crews and passengers due to the lingering effects of the pandemic and that summer’s wildfire season.

The Calgary-based airline previously cancelled its flights between Edmonton and Kamloops in 2016. It’s former ultra low-cost offering – Swoop – also announced a flight between the two citites that was to begin in 2020, but it never did because of COVID-19.

Moroz expects this latest flight will perform better than Flair Airlines’ short-lived expansion into the Kamloops-area. Launched on June 18, 2023, Flair pulled the plug on the Edmonton route on Sept. 6 that year.

“Flair was different aircraft – a 189-seater Boeing 737 – and a different business model and different times when they were flying,” Moroz said. “The smaller 78-seat Q400 would fill out at the numbers that flair was operating at. It’s a better business model, I think, for this connection.”

Moroz also said WestJet appears to be marketing this new Edmonton flight towards leisure travellers.

“It’ll get both, but being the weekend flight, it looks a bit more leisure oriented that business oriented,” Moroz added.

In a statement in May announcing this flight – and one to Prince George – John Weatherill, WestJet’s Executive Vice-President and Chief Commercial Officer, said the flights were “a direct reflection of Canadians’ interest in exploring their own backyard this summer.”

“With more flights and more seats in key Western Canadian markets, we’re giving Canadians better access to the destinations they rely on for business, leisure and visiting loved ones,” Weatherill said.

Moroz agreed with that sentiment, though he also said having a flight to Edmonton opens up new connections for people in the Kamloops-area while also giving those in the Alberta capital easier access to the Thompson-Cariboo-Shuswap.

“I would encourage people here to book those flights or to promote why Kamloops should be a destination for people from Edmonton,” Moroz said.

In a statement, Kamloops Airport Authority Society President Bill Sarai said the new flight also helps reinforce Kamloops’ importance as a regional transportation hub.

“This direct service enhances access for visitors and residents alike and brings significant economic benefit by supporting local tourism and fostering stronger business connections across the region,” Sarai said.