Westjet Adds Another Boeing 787 Destination

Today, WestJet operated its inaugural 787 Dreamliner flight from Calgary to Maui. Announced back in May, the day has finally come without delay. Canada's second-largest airline has been slowly receiving its 787-9 orders from Boeing since February.

Flight details

The details of the Calgary-Maui service are as follows:

WS1858 departs Calgary at 1100. Following a 6-hour 27-minute flight, it will land in Kahului at 1327.
WS1857 departs from Kahului at 2130. This night flight will land in Calgary after a 5-hour 44-minute flight at 0714 the next day.

"As the Canadian carrier with the most flights to Hawaii we're providing a superior experience for our guests flying across the Pacific this winter. WestJet is the first to offer scheduled Dreamliner service to Maui and we're confident guests will enjoy their travel experience onboard our Dreamliners as they head to and from Hawaiian paradise." -Arved von zur Muehlen, WestJet Chief Commercial Officer.

WestJet's beautiful 787 cabin

As WestJet ordered the 787-9 Dreamliners direct from Boeing in 2017, the airline had the opportunity to design its cabin the way it truly wanted to. In my personal opinion, it looks pretty nice!

WestJet B787 Delivery — Business passengers will be able to take advantage of lie flat seats. Photo: WestJet

Onboard the WestJet Boeing 787, there are 16 seats in business class. These are laid out in a 1-2-1 configuration in four rows. Simple Flying’s Paul Lucas recently flew onboard the inaugural Boeing 787 flight between Calgary and London.

New for WestJet and featured in the 787 is a premium economy cabin. WestJet calls this "the ideal combination of comfort, value and guest service including a separate cabin, elevated meal service and signature welcome perks featuring sparkling wine and an amenity case".

In WestJet's economy cabin passengers will find on-demand inflight entertainment, blankets and pillows as well as complimentary food and beverages. There will also be a select number of extra legroom seats available for an additional fee.

Why Calgary?

"Our guests love a direct getaway to beautiful Maui, adding Dreamliner service to one of Hawaii's most desirable places makes the journey even better. We're proud to be WestJet's hub and the home to its Dreamliner fleet and will continue to support our strategic partner's exciting growth." -Bob Sartor, President & CEO, The Calgary Airport Authority.

While WestJet operates flights to and from other Canadian cities, the airline's home and city of birth is Calgary. As WestJet's main hub, it makes sense that it would choose to operate almost all of its new 787s from there.

In fact, there is just a single Toronto service to Europe: the daily flight to London Gatwick. Unfortunately, this deprives the rest of Canada of experiencing the new WestJet 787s as a non-stop/direct service. Hopefully, the airline will add flights out of Vancouver and Montreal as its fleet grows!