WestJet and British Airways will end codeshare agreement in mid-October

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      A Calgary-based airline may no longer be able to count on British Airways to supply it with the current level of passengers bound for smaller Canadian centres.

      That's because WestJet will end its codeshare relationship with the British air carrier on October 16.

      Codeshare is the term used when two or more airlines share the same flight, but each markets the trip as its own with its own flight number.

      When the codeshare agreement was announced in 2012, WestJet executive vice president Bob Cummings described it as "another strategically significant milestone".

      The U.K.-based website Head for Points reported that the looming end of the codeshare means British Airways passengers "will no longer be able to book tickets to smaller cities in Canada with a BA flight number".

      "What is surprising is that BA is cancelling existing Westjet tickets even though the flights are still operating," the website declared. "If you have a ticket with a BA flight number on a Westjet service after 16th October, your flight will have been cancelled."

      Moreover, Head for Points stated that British Airways advised travel agents "not to rebook passengers [on WestJet] if the flight would be too expensive".

      WestJet informed the Straight that the airlines' "interline agreement remains in effect and will continue to allow guests to purchase and complete journeys involving transfer between the respective networks".

      An interline agreement is a voluntary arrangement between airlines to carry passengers that require more than one flight on more than one airline.

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