WestJet to acquire Sunwing Airlines and Sunwing Vacations: Travel Weekly

Sunwing Airlines flies between Canada and warm destinations in the Caribbean and Mexico. Sunwing Travel Group.

Sunwing Vacations and Sunwing Airlines will be purchased by Canada's WestJet Group.

The Sunwing network of scheduled and charter flights, which operate primarily within Canada or between Canada and warm destinations in the Caribbean and Mexico, would be merged with the Canada's second-largest airline group.

The Sunwing tour operation unit would be merged with the WestJet Vacations unit. The combined operation would be based in Toronto.

The corporate headquarters of the group would remain in the city. The proposed transaction price was not revealed.

The addition of Sunwing Airlines would allow the group to immediately expand its Canadian low-cost footprint, thereby increasing its offering of affordable fares.

This combination brings together Canada's two original low-cost carriers and positions us to accelerate growth in value-oriented travel, already the fastest-growing segment of the airline market, according to the CEO of WestJet.

Less than a year ago, a proposed merger between Air Canada and Air Transat fell through when the European Commission refused to approve it.

The European competition authorities needed to approve the deal because of its potential impact on the Canada-Europe market.

WestJet and Sunwing have an agreement to buy each other.