Airlines
EXCLUSIVE — IATA CEO Panel Tackles Thorny Issues
China’s insistence that airlines flying there identify Taiwan as mainland territory in their onboard route maps and other literature aimed at passengers or have their home countries face economic sanctions has become a thorny issue on the sidelines of the 74th IATA AGM in Sydney, reports PressToday's Mike Dunbar, who's attending the event. Some 26 carriers including Air Canada and host airline Qantas have complied with the demand that topped TV newscasts the following morning. During an airline CEO panel discussion MC’d by CNN’s Richard Quest, AC boss Calvin Rovinescu explained,...
AC Celebrates New Ireland Service
Air Canada launched new seasonal non-stop service from Montreal to Dublin, Ireland, over the weekend. Flights are being operated until Oct. 12 using Air Canada's newest single-aisle aircraft, the Boeing 737 MAX 8 featuring a Premium Economy and Economy cabin configuration. Air Canada also offers Toronto-Shannon flights, up to daily non-stop Toronto-Dublin service, as well as seasonal non-stop Vancouver-Dublin...
AC Celebrates New Tokyo Service
Air Canada celebrated the launch of the very first scheduled flight between Montreal and Japan Friday (June 1). Flights will operate year-round aboard AC's Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft, daily during the summer and three times a week during the winter. Air Canada's new transpacific service from its Montreal hub is designed to optimize connectivity to several Canadian and US cities – Quebec City, Ottawa, Halifax, Charlottetown, Boston, Philadelphia and Orlando. “The launch of Montreal's first scheduled link to Japan will also offer travellers from Atlantic Canada and the...
EXCLUSIVE – IATA All Business At AGM
The top executives from the world's airlines are in Sydney, Australia wrestling with a range of issues impacting on air travel at the International Air Transport Association's (IATA) annual general meeting. PressToday's Quebec editor, Mike Dunbar is on hand for the event and offers the following notable quotes from the meeting so far: Director general Alexandre de Juniac on the industry’s slim margins despite healthy profits, ”Compared to other industries, a 4.1% margin or $7.76 per passenger is not a large number.” Qantas CEO Alan Joyce on the same subject, “It doesn’t...
Passenger Demand Slows in April: IATA
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) reports global passenger traffic data for April shows that demand (revenue passenger kilometres or RPKs) rose by 6.2% compared to April 2017, which was down from a 12-month high of 9.7% in March. Comparisons with the year ago period are impacted by developments a year ago – including the comparatively late timing of Easter in 2017, which boosted April traffic. April capacity (available seat kilometres or ASKs) increased by 5.9%, and load factor climbed 0.2 percentage point to 82.3%, which was a record for the month of April,...
WestJet Says Thanks To Agents
With a potential labour action now resolved, WestJet is offering travel agents 4% commission on all domestic Econo fares to thank its partners for their support. Commission can now be earned on all Econo fares for new air-only bookings made between June 1 and June 30 for travel within Canada from June 1 to July 31. WestJet's vice-president, sales and distribution, Lyell Farquharson said, “We know the potential labour action caused frustration for you and your travellers, and we want to extend a sincere thank you to all our travel trade partners for your patience.” And he...
Cathay’s 35th YVR Birthday Benefits A Charity
Charitable organizations in BC have until June 30 to apply for a special gift from Cathay Pacific (CX) valued at $35,000. The airline is marking 35 years of flying non-stop between Vancouver and Hong Kong and has launched the contest to support a worthy BC charity while celebrating the anniversary. Charities are invited to apply by sharing a “compelling and creative” reason as to how and why it would benefit from winning. It’s up to each organization to decide on how to produce their submissions. Thirty-five years ago, on May 1 1983, Vancouver became the first destination...
To The Azores And Beyond
Azores Airlines hopes to do with the Azores – Portugal's nine volcanic islands in the North Atlantic Ocean - the same as Icelandair has done with Iceland. With a hub in Ponta Delgada, Gavin Eccles, chief commercial officer, Azores Airlines plans to position a stopover in the archipelago as a way for travellers to experience two unique destinations for the price of one. “A Canadian can be in Europe in five hours,” he told a Toronto gathering last night (May 30) presented by Azores Airlines and the Portugal National Tourist Office. “We are offering clients the ability to...