No guarantee WestJet's ultra-low-cost carrier will be based in Calgary

There's no guarantee WestJet's new, ultra-low-cost carrieris going to be based in Calgary, like its parent airline.

The launch has been pushed to mid-2018, which gives the company more time to retrofit its planes and get through the busy winter travel season.

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"We are looking at what part of the country and what cities, specifically, actually make the most sense, and so we're just working through that now," said spokesperson Richard Bartrem.

"Of course, now that we're not launching until next year, we've got some time to actually take the time and makethose decisions."

Distinctive branding

Bartremsaid the company is looking at secondary and tertiary airports in order to reduce costs.

"We have less of those in Canada than you might see in Europe, for example, so that becomes a bit more of a challenge," he said.

Work continues on developing the new carrier's brand,which Bartrem says is going to be very different from WestJet so that the headaches associated with an ultra-low-cost carrier aren't associated with WestJet.

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