At Four Years Old, Swoop’s Low Cost Expansion Picks Up Steam
byDaniel McCarthy/
It’s been an impressive start in the life of Swoop, the ultra-low-cost carrier owned by Westjet and headquartered in Calgary.
Monday marked four years since Swoop launched as an airline set on democratizing air travel in Canada. The carrier launched with some key domestic routes in Canada, before expanding internationally. Now, four years in, it is still “growing very, very fast,” according to Bert van der Stege, Swoops head of commercial and finance who spoke to TMR this week.
Van der Stege告诉TMR,Swoop希望今年将其舰队扩大60%,这使其成为快速发展的路线图。This year’s increase includes new flights across Canada, along with 11 total additions this summer to the U.S., including new flights to Nashville, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York, destinations that appeal to a population of Canadian travelers who are increasingly looking for low-cost travel options.
Van der Stege说:“我们看到了大流行的压抑需求,并看到加拿大人不仅需要在国内探索新的目的地,而且还需要探索美国。”beplay银行卡“芝加哥,圣地亚哥,洛杉矶 - 我们正在添加流行的休闲目的地以及我们知道在哪里有联系,贵族休闲驱动以及巨大的压抑需求。”beplay银行卡
The growth, he added, fills a gap that Canadian carriers are not yet serving—Swoop is occupying a market that includes airlines like Air Canada Rouge, Porter Airlines, and Canadian Jetlines, but not U.S. carriers like Southwest or Frontier, who haven’t broken into the Canadian market. That means that Swoop can continue to serve consumers from its home country, along with American consumers who want to explore Canada at a low cost.
van der Stege told TMR that Swoop prides itself on keeping things simple—all routes are direct with “simple in and simple out” flights that minimize the risk of delays or cancellations.
“We don’t connect anywhere in our network,” he said. “We have simple in and out point-to-point flights.”
The expansion comes at a time when travel demand, despite rising prices, remains historically high and the left-over COVID restrictions, such as the U.S.’s inbound testing requirement, finally come to an end. It’s a perfect time for expansion on the leisure side, van der Stege added, despite some chaos continuing at select airports in North America
他说:“我们现在对一些政府机构和机场提供的服务水平不满意。”他补充说,解决方案(包括更多的员工被添加,将减轻”其中一些问题。
As for the next four years, Swoop plans to continue on its mission of democratizing air travel, but the long-term future is still hard to predict.
他说:“我们在过去四年中学到的一件事是,很难预测将要发生的事情 - 过去几年显然真的很困难。”
“The next four years are going to be very growth-centric. We believe the model works in Canada, we believe we’re very well positioned, and we will continue to invest widely, in bases, in new destinations. We look forward to continuing to grow the airline, create jobs, and add destinations both in North America and internationally. “
至于旅行顾问社区,Swoop专门从其自己的直接预订网站开始。现在,距离旅途四年了,它增加了一个旅行社支持台,范德·斯坦(Van der Stege)表示已经准备好并渴望帮助建立其旅行顾问社区。
“We welcome their business and we look forward to working with agents,” he said.