CALGARY, July 28, 2015 /CNW/ – WestJet Airlines Ltd. (TSX:WJA) announced today that the Toronto Stock Exchange (“TSX”) has approved an amendment to its normal course issuer bid (the “NCIB”). The purpose of the amendment is to increase the maximum number of common voting shares and variable voting shares (collectively “Shares”) that may be purchased under the NCIB from 2,000,000 to 4,000,000. This represents approximately 3.2 per cent of the issued and outstanding Shares as of the date of the original notice. The increased purchase limit under the NCIB will be effective July 30, 2015.

The NCIB will continue until May 12, 2016, or until such earlier time as the bid is completed or terminated at the option of WestJet. Any Shares WestJet purchases under the bid will be purchased on the open market through the facilities of the TSX at the prevailing market price at the time of such transaction. On any trading day, WestJet will not purchase more than 25 per cent of the average daily trading volume of the Shares for the six months preceding the commencement of the NCIB, being 117,903 Shares, except where such purchases are made in accordance with the block purchase exemptions under the TSX rules. TD Securities Inc. is the broker firm responsible for making purchases of Shares under the bid on behalf of WestJet. Shares acquired under the bid will be cancelled. To date, WestJet has already purchased 1,000,000 Shares for cancellation since the commencement of the bid on May 13, 2015.

WestJet believes that, from time to time, the market price of its Shares may not reflect their underlying value. At such times, the purchase of Shares for cancellation may be advantageous to shareholders by increasing the value of the remaining Shares. The purchase of Shares may also offset the dilutive effect of the issuance of Shares pursuant to WestJet’s compensation plans.

At times when WestJet does not possess material non-public information about itself or its securities, it may enter into an automatic securities purchase plan with its broker to allow for the purchase of Shares at times when WestJet ordinarily would not be active in the market due to its own internal trading blackout periods and insider trading rules. Any such plans entered into with WestJet’s broker will be adopted in accordance with the requirements of applicable Canadian securities laws and subject to prior approval by the TSX.