Airlines
Air Transat Celebrates Its Return
Air Transat took off on July 23 after 112 days of air downtime due to COVID-19, operating three international flights from Montreal to Toulouse and Paris and from Toronto to London. The carrier also offered 3 domestic flights from Montreal to Toronto, from Toronto to Montreal and from Toronto to Vancouver. Transat’s entire reduced summer schedule of 24 routes to some 20 destinations will be up and running by Aug. 2. Annick Guérard, chief operating officer, Transat, said: “July 23 is, and will remain, a very special day in the history of Transat. We are gradually resuming our...
Transat Delays Closing Of AC Deal For Second Time
Transat A.T. Inc. has delayed the closing of the deal with Air Canada until August 27. It is the second time that Transat has sought a delay, initially requesting that the deal be delayed to July 27. The company advised of the first delay in its Q2 disclosure stating that: “Under the arrangement agreement, the deadline for obtaining the regulatory approvals cannot be extended beyond December 27, 2020. This date, initially set for June 27, 2020 may be deferred, to the extent that the regulatory approvals are not obtained, for three one-month periods upon notification by one of the...
Ethiopian Resumes Dubai Service
Ethiopian Airlines has resumed service to Dubai further to the ending of the lock-down and its opening for leisure travelers and also resumed normal service to Djibouti. The resumptions bring the number of destinations served by Ethiopian to 40. As countries continue to open-up their airports for passenger arrival, Ethiopian will announce list of these destinations in due course. Facemasks will be mandatory for Ethiopian Airlines passengers, who are requested to satisfy destination entry requirements, such as health certificates and filling out health declaration forms if...
Air Canada Reopening Maple Leaf Lounges
Air Canada is gradually re-opening its Maple Leaf Lounges, complete with new biosafety protocols for the well-being of customers and employees. The Maple Leaf Lounge at Toronto Pearson, D gates re-opens today (July 24) to eligible customers travelling on a domestic or international flight, with the Maple Leaf Lounges located in the domestic departure areas at airports in Montreal and Vancouver set to re-open in the coming weeks. Andrew Yiu, vice-president, product, at Air Canada, said: “We are pleased to welcome eligible customers again to one of our Maple Leaf Lounges at our...
Despite The Surge, Travel Safety Perceptions Hold Steady
The current surge in cases of COVID-19 across the U.S. has not made Americans more fearful of becoming ill according to the latest results of MMGY Global’s Travel Safety Barometer (Wave VI), which measures the impact of the virus on traveller perceptions of safety. The barometer also found that the virus’ surge has not impacted the number of respondents who plan to take a leisure trip within the next six months, which has held steady at 40% since early June. And while the travel industry still has a long road to recovery ahead, there are two areas where perceptions of safety are...
A Message from Jean-Marc Eustache To Travel Agencies
Dear Travel Consultant, July 23 is, and will remain, a very special day in Transat’s history. Tonight, after four months of inactivity, we are making our first three international commercial flights — Montreal-Toulouse, Montreal-Paris and Toronto-London — in addition to our three domestic flights — Montreal-Toronto, Toronto-Montreal and Toronto-Vancouver. These first departures will certainly be a very emotional moment for the entire Transat team, for me especially. Our entire reduced summer program, which includes 24 routes to some 20 destinations, will be up and running...
WestJet Wraps Up Repatriation Flight Program
WestJet has concluded its repatriation flight program with the Government of Canada, following the airline's final flight from Port of Spain (POS), Trinidad and Tobago to Toronto (YYZ), Canada on Friday, July 17. Since April 4, WestJet operated 28 flights to 14 destinations to bring 4,073 Canadians home from the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Grand Cayman, Haiti, Jamaica, Panama and Trinidad and Tobago. Ed Sims, WestJet president and CEO, said: "By working together with our Government of Canada...
Curaçao Is Calling
On July 1, Canada joined the list of select markets like Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, and The Netherlands to get the green light to visit the Dutch Caribbean island of Curaçao. Ahead of reopening to international travel, the destination introduced new hospitality protocols called “A Dushi Stay the Healthy Way.” In the first 12 days since the borders reopened, close to 3,000 stayover visitors headed to the colourful ABC island, mainly from Western Europe and the Caribbean region. “We’ve put certain prerequisites in. We are approaching this in a very methodical, gradual...