Airlines
TripAdvisor Awards Honour WestJet
WestJet has again been recognized as Best Airline in Canada and Travellers' Choice winner – North America in the 2018 TripAdvisor Travellers' Choice awards for Airlines. The airline was also named the Travellers' Choice Winner – Economy, North America. WestJet remains the only airline in Canada to win TripAdvisor's Best Airline in Canada recognition. TripAdvisor highlights the world's top carriers based on the quantity and quality of reviews and ratings for airlines worldwide gathered over a 12-month period. WestJet received almost 7,000 guest reviews with a 4.04...
Ethiopian Airlines Helps Out
Using flights donated by Ethiopian Airlines Canada in late 2017, Toronto-based SickKids Centre for Global Child Health (C-GCH) team members flew to sub-Saharan Africa to deliver newborn and child health programs. In a recent trip to Mali, members of the International Program Evaluation Unit at C-GCH met with regional and national Ministries of Health and NGOs to discuss their ongoing project to strengthen maternal, newborn and child health in Malis Koulikoro and Sikasso regions. In a trip to the Afar region of Ethiopia, C-GCHs Capacity Building team assessed the training gaps of...
IATA Reports February Results
IATA reports that global passenger traffic results for February indicate a rebound in traffic growth following the slower demand experienced in January, which was owing to temporary factors including the later timing of the Lunar New Year in 2018. Total revenue passenger kilometers (RPKs) for the month rose 7.6%, compared to February 2017, up from 4.6% year-over-year growth in January. Monthly capacity (available seat kilometers or ASKs) increased by 6.3%, and load factor rose 0.9 percentage point to 80.4%, surpassing the previous record for the month of 79.5%, which was set in...
Meet Oscar
Air New Zealand is bringing Oscar – its chatbot – to US and Canadian customers. Oscar was first piloted last year in the New Zealand and Australia markets to assist customers with frequently asked questions, saving them time and offering a more personalized experience. Just over a year on and Oscar's Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology allows him to have more than 1,000 conversations each day and successfully answer 75% of questions asked up from just seven percent on his first day (which is big in the bot world). Air New Zealand's chief digital officer, Avi Golan...
Air Canada Makes It New
Air Canada has launched an expanded range of North America Economy fares to give its customers greater flexibility to select the airport and onboard amenities they want when travelling. In redesigning its existing Economy fares the airline is introducing a new comfort fare that provides customers a wide range of features, including complimentary access to Preferred Seats, and the option to purchase other amenities such as Maple Leaf Lounge access. Lucie Guillemette, executive vice-president and chief commercial officer at Air Canada, said: “Air Canada recognizes that people have...
Stay Safe, But Have Fun
Air Transat has unveiled its new safety video that's now available aboard all its flights. Created in partnership with studio Vallée Duhamel, the three-and-a-half-minute video plunges the traveller into a playful universe, without losing sight of the main message – inflight safety procedures. Geneviève LeBrun, vice-president of marketing at Transat Tours Canada, explained that: “Our brand mission, to brighten the everyday with the joy of vacations, is reflected throughout this video, with references to vacations in the South, Canada and Europe everywhere.” LeBrun points out...
New Zealand-Chicago Air Service Takes Off
Air New Zealand will launch a new non-stop service between Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport and Auckland, beginning in November. From Nov. 30, Air New Zealand will operate the new route three times weekly, year-round with its new configuration Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft. Flight time will be approximately 15 hours northbound and just over 16 hours southbound. “We expect the addition of Chicago to our network to be an attractive option for Canadians keen to explore New Zealand and Kiwis wanting to visit Chicago or head on to other North American destinations,” says...
Lufthansa Brings A350-900 To Vancouver
Lufthansa is increasing seat capacity to Canada this year, and Vancouver is leading the charge. YVR will be the first destination in Canada to get services by one of Lufthansa’s new flagship Airbus A350-900 aircraft, which will take the place of an A330. That will give Vancouver an increase in seat capacity of 11% by the German carrier. Flights with the A350 commence on May 1 and it will operate on the Vancouver-Munich seasonal summer route on a daily basis. Flights will continue on the route until the conclusion of the summer season, on Oct. 27. “Placing our A350 flagship...