WestJet (WS, Calgary) is planning to expand its dedicated freighter operations to serve the busy Miami International-Latin America market once its fleet of B737-800(BCF)s grows to four aircraft, Executive Vice-President (Cargo) Kirsten de Bruijn told AirCargoNews.

"I want to get the approvals [before announcing routes]. It will be in the north of Latin America because we need the maximum payload to feed the Miami hub," she said.

The Canadian carrier plans to debut commercial freighter operations on April 22, 2023, with an initial fleet of three B737-800(BCF)s all of which have already been converted and are ready for induction. The aircraft will initially be used to operate between Calgary, Halifax, Toronto Pearson, Vancouver International, Los Angeles International, and Miami, having garnered authorisation in late March 2023.

The fourth B737-800(BCF) is scheduled to deliver in May 2023.

De Bruijn said that the airline would focus on serving the Canadian market using, in particular, the dedicated freighters to feed B787-9 bellyhold cargo capacity out of Calgary.

She added that by adding dedicated freighters and rebuilding its cargo strategy around the aircraft, WestJet was able to streamline its offer and improve the product.

"Regulations for freighters are completely different, so we can expand the container types we can offer, there are quicker cut-off times because the security requirements are different for domestic Canada rather than international, and also freighter-to-freighter is different to freighter-to-belly with security and screening requirements," de Bruijn outlined.