Airlines
Agents’ Choice: Vote While You Still Can
Baxter Media’s annual Agents' Choice Readership Survey has re-opened for a limited time in case you missed it the first time around. “The lockdown due to COVID-19 came right in the middle of our Agents’ Choice voting period,” explains Wendy McClung, Executive VP, Operations. “We realize that so many professionals in our industry look forward to selecting their favourites every year, so we wanted to re-open the survey to make sure everyone can have their say and cast their vote.” If you did miss the chance to vote in Agents’ Choice, Canada's original and most...
Air Canada Exploring Rapid COVID-19 Testing
Air Canada has engaged Spartan Bioscience Inc., an Ottawa-based biotechnology leader in portable DNA testing technology, to assess how best to deploy Spartan's portable COVID-19 testing technology in the aviation sector. Samuel Elfassy, vice president, safety at Air Canada, said: “Air Canada's strategy for managing COVID-19 has been to develop and apply multiple layers of biosafety measures for customers and employees. We believe the availability of a rapid, accurate, portable molecular test for COVID-19 will add yet another effective layer.” Elfassy continued: “We are excited...
A First For Air Transat, SAF + Consortium
Air Transat and SAF + Consortium have signed the first Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) offtake agreement in Canada. Described as a historical moment for the Canadian aviation industry, marking the first time a Canadian commercial airline has agreed to work hand in hand with a clean fuel developer in reducing its environmental footprint and is an important part of Air Transat’s strategy to meet aviation’s greenhouse gas emissions reductions targets. In fact, Air Transat is so convinced that the future of SAF will be a priority for the aviation industry that it has committed to...
Guillemart-Dias Takes Over At AF, KLM Canada
Safety, service and sustainability will be the three priorities of Air France KLM Canada as the carriers begin to ramp up their operations this summer out of this country. They will be doing it under new leaderships as Air France KLM Canada introduced its new boss here during a virtual briefing yesterday afternoon (July 8). Catherine Guillemart-Dias will take on the role of vice-president and general manager Canada, effective Aug. 1, succeeding Vincent Etchebehere, who will be heading Air France’s Sustainability and New Mobilities in Paris. Guillemart-Dias said of her...
Denied Boarding Due To COVID-19 – Can A Client Sue?
This week, TraveLaw Online’s Doug Crozier and Tim Law of Heifetz, Crozier, Law respond to a question from a reader asks whether their agency can be sued if they sell a ticket to a passenger who is then refused boarding because they are showing COVID-19 symptoms at the airport. Q: If I sell a non-refundable air ticket to a client, and she is refused passage at the airport by the carrier due to COVID-19 symptoms, can she sue my agency? A: She could sue you. But we don’t think she’d win. As long as you properly disclosed the name of the carrier that was to provide the flight,...
Luxury Travel Poised To Make A Strong Comeback
A recent ILTM (International Luxury Travel Market) survey, of 1000 international travel agents, has revealed that more than 50% of respondents are confident the luxury travel market is poised to rebound within the year. Agents also reported some emerging trends, including luxury automobile rentals, private villa rentals, and private jets. And it’s no wonder as luxury travel offers a controlled and secluded environment that works so well in a socially distanced world. Join Baxter Media TODAY at 1PM EST for a FREE webinar, Selling Luxury Travel, to learn all about luxury travel -...
COVID-19: A Crisis With A Long Shadow
In newly released public opinion research IATA found that the willingness of people to travel is being tempered by their concerns over the risks of catching COVID-19 during air travel. IATA’s research found that while nearly half of those surveyed (45%) indicated the they would return to travel within a few months of the pandemic subsiding, that is a significant drop from the 61% recorded in the April survey. Overall, IATA said that the survey results demonstrate that people have not lost their taste for travel, but there are blockers to returning to pre-crisis levels of...
Luxury Travel: Why and How To Sell It
In a post-COVID-19 travel market, could luxury travel be the next big trend? By its very definition, luxury travel offers seclusion, privacy, and exclusivity. Personalized itineraries, private tours, chartered flights, private villa rentals, or even private islands ... this is exactly the kind of travel that works in a socially distanced world. So, what is luxury travel, who offers it, and how can travel agents sell it? Join Baxter Media on Wednesday, Jul 8 at 1PM EST for a free webinar, Selling Luxury Travel, part of our #TravelWebcastWednesday series, exploring the topics, trends,...