On Friday, Canada's second-largest carrier WestJet announced that it would significantly increase its flights to Hawaii this upcoming winter. Additions include more opportunities to travel on the airline's Boeing 787 Dreamliners from Western Canada and a new non-stop service from Calgary to Kona and Lihue.

Fifty-seven flights per week

All in all, from December, WestJet will operate 57 weekly flights on ten nonstop routes from Canada to the Aloha State. This is a substantial increase of 25% from the airline's winter 2019 schedule. John Weatherill, WestJet's Chief Commercial Officer, shared the following in a statement,

"With easing travel restrictions, we know our guests are planning to turn their long-awaited Hawaiian getaway dreams into a well-deserved reality. We've increased our winter service to Hawaii by more than 25 percent from 2019 to ensure our guests have increased flexibility and the most affordable, non-stop options from Western Canada."

Beginning December, the airline is adding a new weekly service from Calgary (YYC) to Kona (KOA) on the island of Hawai'i and to Lihue (LIH) on the island of Kaua'i. WestJet will then serve four Hawaiian destinations nonstop from Calgary, as well as two from Edmonton.

Westjet 737
WestJet promises to have travelers from Western Canada in Hawaii by mid-afternoon. Photo: Getty Images

Meanwhile, flights from Calgary and Vancouver (YVR) to Kahului (OGG) on the island of Maui will operate with the airline's 787 Dreamliners 13 times per week. The airline says departures will be scheduled for daytime hours to have passengers in Maui by the early afternoon.

WestJet currently has six Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners in its fleet, with another four yet to be delivered. The planes feature private pods with lie-flat seats in the business class cabin. There are 16 seats in business, 28 in premium economy with a 2-3-2 configuration, and 276 in economy with standard 3-3-3 seating.

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First Hawaiian resumption in August

As plans stand today, WestJet intends to recommence flights to Honolulu (HNL) on the island of Oahu from Vancouver three times a week from August 8th.  Resumption of thrice-weekly flights from Toronto will happen in mid-December, along with Calgary to Maui, Vancouver to Maui, and Vancouver to Kona.

WestJet's 787-9s feature lie-flat business class pods. Photo: Anna Zvereva via Wikimedia Commons

There will also be new nonstop flights to HNL from Montreal twice weekly from December 12th and a new non-stop Calgary to HNL thrice-weekly service from December 18th. Flights are also meant to take European travelers to the Pacific islands, with connecting flights arriving from Brussels and Frankfurt to Montreal and from London Heathrow, Frankfurt, and Vienna to Toronto.

Only seven international routes until July 4th

Through July 4th, WestJet is only operating three transborder routes. The airline is flying from Toronto to Fort Myers, Florida, and from Calgary to Palm Springs, Florida, and Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport, Arizona. Along with services to Cancun and Puerto Vallarta in Mexico, Montego Bay in Jamaica, and London Gatwick in the UK, these are the only international services currently operated by the airline.

Will you be taking advantage of WestJet's extensive offering of new and returning Hawaiian services this winter?