A Swoop airplane is seen in this undated handout photo. WestJet Airlines Ltd. says Swoop, its new ultralow-cost carrier, will launch on June 20.
Swoop, the new WestJet Airlines Ltd. ultralow-cost carrier (ULCC), will begin operating in June with domestic flights, but will also announce that month how it plans to win back Canadian travellers heading to southern destinations from airports near the U.S. border.
The airline said on Thursday it will start flying June 20 with three planes. First flights are between Abbotsford, B.C., and Hamilton and Halifax.
Flights to Winnipeg and Edmonton will be added later in June and in July, respectively.
There will be more route announcements between now and June, but winning back cross-border travellers is "the big one," Bob Cummings, WestJet's executive vice-president of strategy and executive in charge of Swoop said on Thursday.
"There is a significant opportunity for a Canadian carrier to set up a ULCC model, set it up properly and work with airport partners here in Canada and go after bringing that traffic back and do that in a way that works from a consumer standpoint as well as works from an economic standpoint," Mr. Cummings said.
"All the modelling we've done has us getting very close to the U.S. ULCC cost structure and us being able to offer essentially the same total ticket prices they would get going across to Buffalo [N.Y.] or Bellingham [Wash.]" he said.
Canadians travelling across the U.S. border to fly out of border airports would fill the equivalent of 40 aircraft a day during winter, he said.
Fares will start at $99 one-way for the Abbotsford-Hamilton flights and $39 one way between Edmonton and Abbotsford when those flights begin.
"We have about a two-week horizon on those introductory fares," Mr. Cummings said.
After that, Swoop has said fares for flights of about three hours – Abbotsford to Winnipeg, for example – will be less than $100, he said.
The carrier will offer 2,000 seats with free fares – travellers will have to pay taxes and fees – as a kick-off promotion for the first flights.
Swoop is WestJet's bid to defend its turf in the low-cost segment of the travel market, where one ULCC, Flair Airlines Ltd., is already operating. Canada Jetlines Ltd., a Vancouver-based ULCC, is scheduled to begin flights June 1.
Canada Jetlines offered 1,000 tickets at $10 each as a kick-off promotion and has said its fares will be less than $100.
While fares are at rock-bottom levels, Swoop passengers will pay for anything beyond the seat itself, including fees for carry-on bags and other baggage that in some cases exceed the costs of the fares.
"Let's assume, like all fares, they'll start moving around based on loads, competitive response" and other factors, said analyst Chris Murray, who follows WestJet for AltaCorp Capital Inc. "The fee structure could change faster than the fare structure."
Carry-on fees range from $36.75 to $40.25 when paid online and between $84 and $92 when paid for at an airport check-in counter.
Fees for the first checked bag are lower.
Passengers will also pay fees to watch movies, use in-flight WiFi or purchase on-board beverages and snacks.
Flights begin on Boeing 737-800 planes that will have 189 seats. The flights announced on Thursday represent three planes' worth of flying, Mr. Cummings said. Swoop will have six planes by September and 10 by September, 2019.