Canadian airline Air Transat has announced that it is to increase flights to the 2010 Winter Olympic city of Vancouver in Canada next winter, with a second weekly flight commencing in December from Gatwick.
The news follows the recent launch of a year-round direct service from Heathrow to Salt Lake City by Virgin and Delta. This will see the first direct flights to Utah’s state capital, located around an hour or less from half a dozen world-class resorts, and a gateway to ski areas in states to the north like Jackson Hole in Wyoming and Big Sky in Montana.
Whilst Vancouver is the closest airport to Whistler (pictured above, image credit Mike Crane), Air Transat have also announced new winter flights to Toronto, Canada’s largest city and the capital of Ontario in the East, which is also home to a number of leading ski resorts, albeit ones with (much) smaller lift-served verticals.
Air Transat say passengers can also connect to the Rocky Mountains with a flight to Calgary (weekly via Toronto), which is the closest international airport to a host of resorts in Western Alberta including Banff and Lake Louise, as well as some in Eastern BC like Kicking Horse and Fernie.
Return flight prices to Toronto start from £339 per person (Vancouver from £361 return, Calagary from £367 return) and Air Transat offers free ski carriage (1 bag per person) in addition to the standard baggage allowance.
