The partnership will start on 30 March, when Virgin’s inaugural takes off. Calgary-based WestJet will offer connections to its hub as well as 12 other destinations, including Edmonton, Vancouver, Winnipeg and Ottawa.

The deal was flagged last year and has now been fully detailed. The two airlines will co-locate at Toronto Pearson International airport’s Terminal 3. Passengers will be able to travel on one ticket and transfer without having to collect and re-check their baggage to their final destination.

Virgin is relaunching its Toronto route after more than a decade. The Canadian city is a financial hub and will be an important source of passengers travelling to the Indian sub-continent via Heathrow.
 
Juha Jarvinen, Virgin’s chief commercial officer, said: “Canada is an incredibly important opportunity for Virgin Atlantic as many of our customers travel between the Great White North, the UK, India and beyond. 

“This expanded partnership with WestJet, alongside our partners at Delta Air Lines and Air France-KLM, will create seamless connectivity for our customers via our new route launching between Toronto and London.”
 
Virgin Atlantic appointed Stephen Goulding as its Canada country manager in January. Goulding joined from WestJet.