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A WestJet plan comes in for landing at Vancouver international airport July 26, 2010. John Lehmann/The Globe and MailJOHN LEHMANN/The Globe and Mail

WestJet Airlines Ltd. is expanding with new routes, rolling out its winter strategy to tap into secondary Canadian markets hungry for travel to vacation destinations where the sun beckons.

London, Ont., will benefit from WestJet's move, with non-stop seasonal flights to Las Vegas and Cancun, Mexico. Another secondary market is Kelowna, B.C., where residents will be able to start flying to and from Phoenix on Oct. 31.

Victoria-Phoenix and Thunder Bay-Montego Bay, Jamaica, are among the other new routes as WestJet increases the number of flights in the leisure market.

Besides flight-only tickets, WestJet's vacation division will sell packages to sun destinations, notably to Las Vegas, Cancun and Montego Bay, said John MacLeod, WestJet's vice-president of network management and alliances.

WestJet will add another five planes next winter to its current fleet of 96 Boeing 737s. WestJet also has lined up flying duties for some tour packages offered by Thomas Cook Canada Ltd.'s Sunquest Vacations.

Major Canadian cities are part of WestJet's expansion, too, with flights between Toronto and San Juan, Puerto Rico; and service between Winnipeg and Palm Springs, Calif.

"We'll also have additional capacity from Vancouver to Hawaii, as well as from Calgary and Edmonton," Mr. MacLeod said.

WestJet is considering deploying a Boeing 757 again on seasonal non-stop flights between Alberta and Hawaii, after scheduling the 193-seat aircraft last winter because it has a longer range than the Boeing 737.

Boeing 737s hold from 119 to 166 passengers, depending on the model.

"We're offering more seats to sun destinations south and west of Canada," said Mr. MacLeod, who noted that Calgary-based WestJet will be increasing winter service to Cancun from 42 to 50 flights a week. The number of flights to Phoenix will rise from 33 to 43 a week, while flights to Palm Springs will climb from 25 to 32 flights a week.

WestJet is battling rivals such as Air Canada Vacations, Sunwing Travel Group and Transat A.T. Inc. for leisure travellers.

"There will be extra capacity this winter, which bodes well for travellers looking for deals, but the downward pressure on already thin margins is difficult for the industry," said Nina Slawek, co-founder of consumer travel website TakeOffeh.com.

Ms. Slawek added that once a carrier has established itself in a secondary Canadian market and gained customer acceptance, it makes it tougher for rivals to gain entry.

WestJet co-founder Tim Morgan and three other former WestJet executives developed a business plan in 2007 to fly travellers from smaller Canadian cities to holiday destinations. "The opportunity is there on a seasonal basis," said Mr. Morgan, who left WestJet in 2005 and currently heads Enerjet, a Calgary-based charter carrier that focuses on transporting workers to and from the oil sands in northern Alberta.

Enerjet originally proposed the creation of a tour operator for the leisure market, targeting consumers in smaller Canadian markets, but scrapped the idea after Canada's recession in 2009. "Enerjet considered the leisure business at one point, and then the recession hit. Unfortunately, it didn't pan out for us, but it's a smart move on WestJet's part," Mr. Morgan said Wednesday.

Air Canada has proposed the launch of a low-cost leisure carrier, targeting Central Canada initially for destinations in Mexico, the Caribbean and Europe.

Plans for the discount division are awaiting support from Air Canada's pilots and flight attendants, who have expressed concerns about lower wages for the new unit.

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