Raleigh-Durham Airport Adds Seasonal Summer Service To Calgary With WestJet

Canadian carrier WestJet will begin flying from Canada’s third-largest city to the Research Triangle region next summer. The nonstop link will be the 11th international connection for Raleigh–Durham International Airport (RDU), a record for the North Carolina Airport.

All aboard to Alberta

WestJet will begin nonstop service between Raleigh-Durham and Calgary International Airport (YYC) in June 2025. The Calgary route will operate seasonally out of Terminal 2 on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from June 9th through October 13th.

Flights will take roughly five hours and be operated using a mix of Boeing 737-800NG and a 737-800 MAX aircraft, carrying between 174 and 189 passengers. Michael Landguth, President and CEO of the Raleigh-Durham Airport Authority, expressed his excitement for the route to begin:

“We’re excited to welcome RDU’s first nonstop route to Calgary on Canadian airline WestJet.

“This new seasonal service offers Triangle travelers convenient opportunities to visit the Rockies in Western Canada and easily connect to WestJet’s comprehensive network of Canadian and international destinations.”

Passengers can also save time on the return flight by skipping customs when they land back in North Carolina. Calgary International Airport is a preclearance airport, which means travelers headed for the United States can clear US Customs, Immigration, and Agriculture inspections before takeoff to land as domestic passengers.

Calgary is a crucial hub for WestJet, and the new link will open up a range of new destinations across Canada and beyond for passengers from the Triangle. John Weatherill, Executive Vice-President, and Chief Commercial Officer at the WestJet Group, expressed his confidence that the link would help area residents at both ends of the route explore new sights and experiences while bringing greater access to Calgary, the Rocky Mountains, and Western Canada:

“We are thrilled to welcome the addition of service between the thriving business hub of Raleigh-Durham and Calgary, our global hub, where guests can further seamlessly connect to our vast network of 40 domestic destinations across Canada and nine intercontinental destinations featuring convenient service to both Europe and Asia.

“Whether travelling for business or leisure, we are confident this new route will be pivotal for our guests on both sides of the border this summer.”

Thanks to a longstanding partnership between the two airlines, passengers can connect to Delta Air Lines flights and enjoy their SkyMiles elite status on WestJet flights.

Cheaper by the dozen

The announcement of Alberta flights marks a record-breaking resurgence for Raleigh-Durham International. WestJet is the fifth international airline to launch or announce a new service from the airport this year, and the Calgary route brings the number of overseas nonstop destinations to 11, a new record for the airport.

Just last week, the airport announced it will get direct flights to the Bermuda Triangle. BermudAir, the island’s relatively new flag carrier, will begin twice-weekly flights to L.F. Wade International Airport (BDA) with an Embraer E175 on April 11th, 2025.

Earlier this summer, Aeromexico added flights to Mexico City (MEX), one of three destinations the Mexican flag carrier began in July. June was the airport’s busiest month in terms of welcoming airlines. Lufthansa began the month with a direct service to Frankfurt (FRA) that runs five days a week on an Airbus A330.

Weeks later, fellow Star Alliance carrier COPA Airlines commenced the airport’s first service to Latin America with a nonstop flight to Tocumen International Airport (PTY) in Panama City, Panama. Simple Flying was onboard the first flight, which was operated by one of the airline’s Boeing 737-800 aircraft.

Air France joined the airport’s lineup of international carriers just over a year ago when it took over Paris service from codeshare partner Delta Air Lines. According to scheduling data from Cirium, the airport will have flights to the following overseas destinations next summer:

The airport’s tenth international route, a Delta Air Lines link to Cancun (CAN), is a winter-seasonal service that is currently scheduled to end in April.

WestJet’s sizable summer

In addition to its Raleigh-Durham service, WestJet is adding two more US destinations from Calgary. A link to Minneapolis (MSP) will begin on May 16th and run four times a week, followed by a twice-weekly service to Anchorage (ANC) on June 29th. Elsewhere in Alberta, the airline will also introduce a route from Edmonton (YEG) to Salt Lake City (SLC) on May 15th, 2025.

Four routes to Florida are also being extended from seasonal services to year-round connections as part of a significant expansion that will increase the airline’s network by 10% next summer. WestJet is boosting its transatlantic service from Eastern Canada with the return of service between Halifax and Paris. In May, the carrier will resume service between St. John’s (YYT) and Dublin (DUB), alongside a new link to Paris.

Domestically, the airline is growing capacity by 12% to serve 41 Canadian airports with over 3,000 weekly departures. New to the Calgary network for 2025 will be Sudbury (YSB) in Ontario (currently the largest metropolitan area in Canada without WestJet operations) and Sydney (YQY), Nova Scotia.