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Airline becomes the only Canadian carrier flying non-stop to Belize City.

CALGARY, Aug. 8, 2016 /CNW/ – WestJet announced today it will begin serving Belize City, Belize, non-stop from Toronto Pearson International Airport starting October 29, 2016.

Starting August 1, 2016, WestJet also began year-round, non-stop service between Calgary and John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City. Both announcements come on the heels of WestJet’s recent winter schedule announcement of more than 85 new flights across its growing network.

“WestJet is proud to become the only Canadian carrier to fly non-stop to the Philip S. W. Goldson International Airport in Belize,” said Bob Cummings, WestJet Executive Vice-President, Commercial. “The flight’s departure time will allow guests to connect seamlessly from many cities across Canada to a destination known for its large Canadian ex-pat community. WestJet continues to respond to the needs of the communities we serve by delivering more choice, competition and lower fares to Canadian travellers. The launch of service to Belize and our new, year-round service to JFK underlines our commitment to making air travel better in Canada.”

“With Canada being one of the strong source markets for tourist arrivals in Belize, we are extremely excited about this new direct route,” said Karen Bevans, Director of Tourism for Belize. “We welcome WestJet’s first direct flight to Belize, which we guarantee will boost the demand for Canadian travel to our unique destination. Belize and Canada have shared strong ties for many years, so we anticipate that this direct flight from Toronto to Belize City will encourage even more Canadians to venture south to our beautiful jewel.”

SOURCE WestJet

[quote align=”center” color=”#999999″] Not only do we have mile upon mile of stunning beaches, but Placencia is truly the perfect base from which to discover the amazing islands and dives site off the coast, as well as to explore everything that Belize has to offer inland, such as the rainforest, Mayan ruins, cave tubing and zip lining. You can be watching the howler monkeys in the rainforest in the morning and be snorkeling amongst eagle rays and dolphins in the afternoon. I think the award is very well-deserved.

—Ben Mason, Belize Ocean Club [/quote]

Mr. Einer Gomez, Vice Chairman of the Belize Tourism Board received the “Leading Beach Destination in Mexico & Central America” accolade for Placencia, as well as the “Leading Destination in 2015″ for Ambergris Caye. This year has been a great year for Belize, with the development of outstanding properties, cruise ship terminals and possibly a new airport. The World Travel Awards earned by Belize also confirm what we have known all along: This country is a paradise waiting to be discovered.

[youtube height=”330″ width=”550”]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlzDOIRQFkU[/youtube]

As of October 15th 2015, daily flights between Houston and Belize City as well as six other destinations will begin. After receiving U.S. government approval of the new service, Southwest has begun selling these flights at Southwest.com, offering Customers nonstop options between Houston (Hobby) and four destinations in Mexico—Cancun, Mexico City, Puerto Vallarta, and San Jose del Cabo/Los Cabos—as well as flights to San Jose, Costa Rica, and Belize City, Belize.

“We’re building our first-ever international terminal project to give Houstonians, visitors to Houston, and our connecting Customers exceptional value and legendary Customer Service in international markets for which there is great demand.” — Gary Kelly, Southwest Airlines Chairman, President, and CEO.

Belize as well as the other new flight destination countries are expected to benefit from what’s called the “Southwest Effect“, where there is an average decrease in airfares of as much as 30 percent wherever Southwest goes. US Ambassador Carlos R. Moreno said Southwest Airline’s arrival is what you call a “win-win”. The airline has access to one of the fastest growing tourism destinations in the hemisphere and passengers benefit from low fares.