Purchase of Sunwing by WestJet | ADM fears a loss of direct flights to Toronto

Aéroports de Montréal (ADM) fears that Sunwing’s footprint will decrease at Montréal-Trudeau if the tour operator passes into the fold of WestJet – a transaction that is currently under scrutiny from Ottawa. The nonprofit believes it could lose direct flights to Toronto.

Julien Arsenault
The Press

Concerned, the manager and operator of the Montréal-Trudeau and Mirabel airports, which is trying to regain its health after having seen its financial situation weakened by the pandemic, has decided to call on Transport Canada as part of the consultations carried out by the federal authorities on the proposed grouping.

“Although we are not opposed to the acquisition of Sunwing by WestJet, we are concerned that this transaction could affect YUL’s service,” Anne Marcotte, director of public relations for ADM, told La Presse. We want to maintain a quality service to our passengers. »

The organization has sent a letter to Transport Canada in recent weeks which is signed by its vice-president, operations and air development, Stéphane Lapierre. the Globe and Mail got a copy of the missive.

If the marriage is confirmed, ADM fears that Sunwing, which specializes in leisure travel, will move direct flights to Toronto’s Pearson airport, where WestJet is well established. Passengers would then be directed to the Queen City via connecting flights before boarding a plane to their destination.

Efforts under threat

In the letter, ADM argues that the scenario mentioned, if it materializes, would come after years of efforts to improve the number of direct connections, more popular with travelers, at Montreal-Trudeau. However, the document does not suggest possible solutions to Transport Canada. As of Tuesday evening, WestJet and Transport Canada had not responded to questions sent by The Press.

Third busiest airport in the country, Montreal-Trudeau had seen passenger traffic reach 20.3 million people in 2019, before the arrival of COVID-19. That year, Sunwing offered about 30 direct connections from the metropolis. According to the letter, the tour operator accounted for 20% of activity at Montreal-Trudeau to sun destinations.

The country’s second-largest carrier, Calgary-based WestJet, announced an agreement to acquire Sunwing and Toronto-based Sunwing Vacations. Sunwing Vacations operates a regional headquarters in Laval. The amount of the transaction was not disclosed since they are two private companies.

Although there are still risks, Mehran Ebrahimi, a professor at UQAM and director of the Observatory of Aeronautics and Civil Aviation, would be surprised by a reduction in Sunwing’s footprint in Montreal- Trudeau if the company officially goes under the wing of WestJet.

“Sunwing’s structure doesn’t need an airport serving as a hub,” says the expert. It’s a small company with its own destinations and niche. That’s what WestJet doesn’t have. Why buy a company for its expertise and then dismantle it? »

Mr. Ebrahimi believes, however, that ADM is justified in demonstrating “vigilance” and taking steps with Transport Canada to “ensure that its territory is protected”.

After a first quarter in the red, ADM had generated a surplus of 11 million during the second quarter ended June 30. After six months, however, the organization showed a deficit of 24 million.