• Home
• News
• Latest News

EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP - The "international" is becoming more prominent at Atlantic City International Airport.

Canada-based WestJet announced Wednesday that it will start seasonal service between Atlantic City International and Toronto this fall.

From Oct. 22 through May, WestJet flights will depart Toronto for Atlantic City International at 7 p.m., with return flights leaving the airport here at 9:15 p.m. Introductory fares start at $79.

Sharon Gordon, spokeswoman for the South Jersey Transportation Authority, which operates the airport, said the SJTA and WestJet have discussed service out of Atlantic City International for the past several years as part of a move to increase its international destinations, especially to areas featuring many entertainment and tourism opportunities.

As for travelers heading north, WestJet can take travelers from Toronto to Canadian cities that include Montreal, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver. Travelers can also get to some lesser-known destinations, such as:

- Thunder Bay, Ontario, which WestJet's Web site states is "home to the Sleeping Giant, a mountain that looks just like a giant sleeping on his back."

- Kelowna, British Columbia, from which the adventuresome can take a trip to Lake Okanagan to search for Ogopogo, Canada's version of the Loch Ness monster.

Gordon said it is not uncommon for low-fare airlines to start international service with seasonal flights.

WestJet eventually will review advance bookings for the Atlantic City-Toronto flights to determine if the service should run year-round, she said. She said SJTA is confident that, with the backing of the region's gaming and non-gaming entities, the service will become year-round.

A look at WestJet's route map on its Web site shows that many of its international flights are seasonal.

Gordon said WestJet's service is one reason that SJTA is fast-tracking plans to build new quarters for processing international passengers at the airport terminal.

International travelers currently go through customs in a screened off section of the terminal's baggage-handling center.

WestJet included the Atlantic City-Toronto service as part of announcement outlining what it calls its largest-ever seasonal non-stop flight schedule.

The new schedule features what WestJet said was a record eight new international destinations and three additional destinations in the United States for the winter of 2009-2010. WestJet said it will operate service to 66 cities in more than 10 countries by late fall, as compared to 51 cities in eight countries a year ago.

"This is another first for WestJet," said Chris Avery, the airline's vice president for revenue and finance. "We have never announced as many destinations at one time, which demonstrates that we continue to deliver on our strategic plan by expanding our network and providing our world-class guest experience each and every day. We remain confident that, in spite of the current economic conditions, WestJet's unsurpassed value and our status as Canada's preferred airline will see old friends and new guests alike flying with us this winter."

Atlantic City International, bolstered by a coalition of gaming and non-gaming businesses and organizations, has added other new service this year.

Spirit Airlines, for years the airport's only major air carrier, started service to Boston in May.

AirTran Airways started service to Atlanta last month. Atlanta's airport is an important hub that gives travelers greater access to domestic and international flights.

The SJTA said it hopes to have service to Chicago, another key hub airport, later this year.

E-mail Thomas Barlas:

TBarlas@pressofac.com

14 comments:

• Sriniv (1) posts 6:43 pm

  It can't be a bad thing. We've noticed a drop in visitors to the town. Having another service bring a new influx of visitors can never be a bad thing. Srini http://www.atlanticcity.com

• JerseyDevil (395) posts 4:44 am

  I guess their going to put up signs in French in the airport and in Atlantic City.One good thing is the French women are very beautiful and friendly but the men don't take showers or baths.It has something to do with heradity.

• MrWhite (94) posts 12:49 pm

  Well, I guess if a Canadian visitor tells a local to "take off!" now they can! Okay, you can boo me now!

• Bobstake (224) posts 11:27 am

  I think it is very good news. This will open up travel to and from canada. AC benefits! We should not be so negative about AC. Yes, the Mayor needs to focus on cleaning up the city. Yes, the Mayor should be working to bring tourist to town. Yes, the Mayor should reduce the outrageous spending. No, the Mayor DOES NOT NEED TO APPOINT (a crony)as PUBLIC SAFETY DIRECTOR (at great expense to the citizens of AC).

• JIMFROMPA (8) posts 11:00 am

  THEY DON`T WANT TO COME TO ATLANTIC CITY. THEY WANT THE PEOPLE IN YOUR AREA TO GO TO CANADA FOR SKIING AND SNOWMOBILES. THE SEASON FROM OCTOBER UNTIL MAY.

• weisenthal (261) posts 9:37 am

  Great. Now we can be known internationally as a dangerous, filthy ghetto with no-pay out slots and vacant lots. Nazis, get ready to regulate their behavior.

• PPisPork (50) posts 7:14 am

  Gee Bernie, perhaps if I had said another airline should take you to Auschwitz or Krakow you might have called me a worse name than a food stamp recipient. Oh and by the way, the US Food Stamp Program was created as a farm industry subsidy. Motivation to provide food aid to the poor was non-existent. Of course I gained all of this knowledge being an unemployed homeless beggar on the Boardwalk where I plug in my laptop at the Albany Ave. pavilion.

• B4real (268) posts 12:16 am

  This is great news but A.C. better clean itself up and fast. With all the new competition A.C. won't last as a tourist destination with rampant crime, vacant lots and dilapidation everywhere, dirty streets and sidewalks, homeless and beggars all about, etc... A mostly uneducated welfare population and a totally incompetent, unqualified and corrupt city hall does not bode well for anything to change. Destinations need repeat customers and referrals. Would you seriously recommend A.C. as a vacation destination?

• BernieSchwartz (464) posts 10:02 pm

  Hey PPPORK please enlighten me on some good news that has happened in AC in the last year or so.......I'll wait. You receiving more food stamps doesn't count.

• PennsylvaniaSucks (93) posts 9:11 pm

  Right on! However, I wish they had made the testing period happen over the summer months, when alot of Canadians come down to Wildwood. Nobody visits the Jersey Shore in the winter months.

• PPisPork (50) posts 9:06 pm

  Great news, lets get another airline to ship Bernie to Palestine so that he can continue his complaints about everything and anything.

• BernieSchwartz (464) posts 6:51 pm

  If the USA doesn't rebound soon we can all fly to Canada and inundate their healthcare,not to mention their strip joints.

• American_Gaming_Guru (128) posts 4:45 pm

  Excellent news. Lets keep the new airlines and routes coming!

• tester (3) posts 4:40 pm

  Great article!

PressofAtlanticCity.com offers everyone the opportunity to comment on published stories. However, it is impractical for editors to screen all comments.
If you believe a comment is offensive, please click on the abuse-reporting link and your objection will be considered by an editor. We encourage participants to use their real names, but inoffensive screen names are acceptable. Comments are the sole responsibility of the person posting them.
Please post responsibly. Do not post comments that are off topic, defamatory, obscene, abusive, threatening or an invasion of privacy.
Be polite. Don’t hate. Users who don’t play by the rules may be blocked from participating.

View our full terms of service and privacy agreement

Click here to report a comment as abusive.

You must login to post a new comment