The Canadian government has authorized the takeover of Sunwing Airlines and Sunwing Vacations by Westjet Group, but the latter must meet strict conditions in order to carry out the operation.

One of the conditions is to maintain capacity on the routes affected by the airline merger. They also need to improve baggage handling, expand Sunwing vacation packages to five new Canadian markets and invest in IT, according to a statement from Transport Canada, the Canadian regulator.

“We are pleased that the regulatory review of the transaction has been completed. We thank the Minister of Transport and the Commissioner of Competition, as well as the staff of Transport Canada, the Competition Bureau and the Canadian Transportation Agency, for their efforts in reviewing the transaction,” said Angela Avery, Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer, Company and Sustainability of WestJet Group, as collected by Aviación al Día.

For his part, Omar Alghabra, Minister of Transport for Canada, said: “After considering the pros and cons, we have made the decision that will allow Sunwing to continue to offer affordable vacation packages to Canadians, to create more good jobs and protect existing jobs. , as well as Canadians who have already purchased tickets,” he said in a statement.

as reported REPORTUR.usTransat has admitted to being spooked by the merger of Westjet and Sunwing because it believes it will “significantly” harm competition in the Canadian leisure travel segment, said Transat AT chief executive Annick Guérard. (Transat admits to having been frightened by the merger of Westjet and Sunwing).