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WestJet's new regional air service Encore will use Bombardier Q400 NextGen aircraft.
Brandon won’t find out if it’s on the first round of communities to be served by WestJet’s new regional air service until next month, a spokesperson for the company confirmed yesterday.
Originally the Sun had reported that more details would be released on Jan. 21, but now the announcement has been pushed back to February according to WestJet public relations manager Robert Palmer.
"The announcement of the first few places we will fly to will be sometime in February," Palmer wrote in a email on Monday morning.
"But let’s be clear — and we’ve said this all along — if a community is not included in the first schedule, it does not mean it will not be included in the future. As more aircrafts are delivered, we can add more destinations."
But the reason for the delay is still unknown as Palmer refused to be interviewed further.
"To be honest, it’s really not worthy of an interview. Thanks anyway," he wrote when the Sun requested a brief telephone interview on Monday afternoon.
Although the highly anticipated announcement being pushed back may be disheartening for city officials, due to a lack of information, they are continuing to stay positive.
"We don’t know why so we’ll just continue to wait by the phone," Mayor Shari Decter Hirst said.
"This is quite a big plan that they’re pulling together, so I’m sure there’s lots of moving pieces that they have to put in place before they make any public announcements."
Last summer, WestJet offered more than 30 communities across the country a chance to make their pitch to tell the airline why they were the "right community" for the company.
Brandon made its 25-minute presentation alongside delegates from Terrace, B.C., and Radium Hot Springs, B.C.
Other communities known to have made presentations include Thompson, Yorkton, Sask., Cold Lake, Alta., Medicine Hat, Alta., Prince Rupert, B.C., Nanaimo, B.C., Cranbrook, B.C., and Fort St. John, B.C.
The Brandon community presentation included a Brandon-themed magazine and a list of 10,000 signatures proving that there is a desire for commercial air service in Westman.
» lenns@brandonsun.com
Republished from the Brandon Sun print edition January 15, 2013
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