Airlines
Transat Suspends All Flights
Transat A.T. Inc. is advising that it is suspending all of its scheduled Air Transat flights until April 30 following the Canadian government's request not to travel to Mexico and the Caribbean and the imposition of new quarantine and COVID-19 screening measures. Repatriation of its customers to Canada is expected to take place over the next two weeks, the company said. Jean-Marc Eustache, president and Chief Executive Officer of Transat, said that: “We are putting in place the measures requested by the Canadian government, including not travelling to the South. This forces...
Travel In Style To BVI
The British Virgin Islands (BVI) officially reopened its borders to international travellers on Dec. 1, exclusive to arrivals at Terrance B. Lettsome International Airport on Beef Island. And with safety and socially-distanced travel top of mind, the BVI Tourist Board & Film Commission (BVITB&FC) has unveiled a partnership with evoJets. While many commercial airlines do not have direct flights to Terrance B. Lettsome International Airport, flying private is the easiest and most convenient way to get to the destination. In an effort to make private jet travel more...
Patience: A Virtue That’s Running Out
Devastated. Disappointed. Need relief now. That pretty much summarizes the industry’s response to the new travel restrictions that the federal government announced last Friday (Jan. 29) that essentially sees Canada’s travel industry shutdown for the second time in less than a year. In sounding the alarm, ACTA called the new restrictions -- that see Canada’s major airlines agreeing to suspend all flights to the Caribbean and Mexico (Transat is actually suspending all of its flights) until April 30 – “absolutely devastating.” ACTA president, Wendy Paradis said: “The...
Ontario Makes Testing Mandatory
Ontario is making testing mandatory for all incoming international travellers, implementing six-point plan to battle COVID-19 variants. Ontario Premier Doug Ford unveiled the plan following Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s announcement of strict new measures that will essentially shutdown the country’s travel industry until the end of April. Premier Ford said: “We welcome the new measures announced by the federal government today, but we need a stop gap to prevent new cases, including variant cases, from arriving in Ontario until those measures are fully in place.” And the...
WestJet Provides Details Of Service Suspension
Following Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s COVID-19 briefing today, the WestJet Group confirmed that it is temporarily ceasing international flying to 14 sun destinations in Mexico and the Caribbean in response to a request from the Canadian government. WestJet’s president and CEO, Ed Sims said: “The government asked, and we agreed. While we know that air travel is responsible for less than two per cent of cases since the start of the crisis, and even less today, we recognize the Government of Canada’s ask is a precautionary measure.” Sims continued: “We also note that...
Not A Good Day For Travel – UPDATE
It has not been a good day for the Canadian travel industry and even though the industry could see it coming – certainly Transat’s announcement earlier this week that it was suspending its sun operation to the end of April signalled the significant new travel restrictions. The day began with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announcing that Canada’s four major airlines – Air Canada, WestJet, Sunwing and Transat – are “stepping up” and have agreed to suspend service to sun destinations immediately. (see below for advisories from WestJet and Air Canada) The service...
NACC Responds To New Travel Restrictions
The National Airlines Council of Canada (NACC) is calling on the federal government to take immediate action and provide financial support to airlines, as well as work with the sector to develop an aviation recovery strategy. The call from NACC follows the federal government’s announcement of new measures to reduce air travel and the agreement of Canada’s four major airlines to suspend service to sun destinations until the end of April. Mike McNaney, president and CEO of the National Airlines Council of Canada, said that: “We recognize the statements made by the government...
Sunwing: A Necessary Decision
In a statement issued following Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s announcement on Jan. 29, Sunwing said that: “Further to the Government of Canada’s announcement this morning (Jan. 29), Sunwing, along with all other major Canadian airlines and tour operators, has made the decision to suspend flights to all sun destinations until April 30, 2021.” The company indicated that: “This decision was not made lightly but something we deemed necessary as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and is based on ongoing collaboration with the government and the Canadian aviation...