An expert in the travel industry says she thinks an expansion by WestJet into smaller communities could be good news for northern Saskatchewan.

The airline recently announced it is thinking of buying 40 turboprop aircraft and expanding into smaller communities.

Sandy Farber is a manager with Jubilee Travel in Saskatoon.

She says the move would open more flights for northern residents:

“Yeah, they’re looking at purchasing a bunch of props and I think what they’ll do is lead those into other markets and have through fares.  So that when they’re talking about a fare within Canada, you’ll be able to book from Montreal right to, say, La Ronge and it will be a fare on WestJet all the way through.”

WestJet says it will talk to its employees about the short-haul route before deciding whether or not to adopt it.

However, the company does say it is already eyeing a possible launch date sometime next year.