It was nearly three years in the making, but hundreds of Calgarians are now enjoying the sights, sounds and tastes of Rome, thanks to a new direct flight from WestJet.
The service was originally going to begin in May 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic changed that, causing a two-year delay to the inaugural flight.
The airline says it had two flights to Rome nearly sold out for its first weekend – a sign that Calgarians want to put the pandemic behind them and return to their jet-setting lifestyle.
Bob Sartor with the Calgary Airport Authority says the airline industry provides the city with plenty of benefits.
“They create jobs, they bring cargo and they make Calgary a more attractive city for business and an easier city to access for tourism,” he told CTV News on Saturday. “We’re one of, I think, only 14 airports that have service to Rome.”
Each flight will support approximately 100 jobs in the industry, and the authority says the majority of those positions are filled locally.