CALGARY — WestJet Airlines Ltd. said Monday it has added South Korea’s largest airline as its newest code-share partner.
The agreement will allow Korean Air customers to seamlessly transfer onto more than 70 WestJet-operated flights. Tickets are currently available for flights beginning May 31.
“We are very pleased to announce our agreement with Korean Air, a high quality, world-class airline,” said John MacLeod, vice-president of network management and alliances for WestJet.
“This code-share agreement represents another key step in our strategy to welcome on board new guests from around the world.”
Korean Air will market and distribute WestJet flights by placing its code — KE — on North American flights.
Airlines like WestJet use these sorts of partnerships to draw more traffic into their network and boost revenues.
WestJet already has code-share agreements with American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Delta Air Lines, Japan Airlines and KLM.
It has interline agreements — partnerships that aren’t quite as integrated as code-shares — with 17 other airlines around to the world to collaborate on baggage handling, ticket sales and other tasks.
WestJet currently has only Boeing 737s in its fleet, which limits how far its planes can fly. It relies on code-share and interline agreements to draw in international travellers.