Airlines
Tan Joins WestJet
Alfredo C. Tan as Chief Digital and Innovation Officer. Alfredo will join WestJet on March 5, 2018. He will report to Ed Sims, executive vice-president, commercial for WestJet and will head the further development and rollout of WestJet's digital strategy as the airline transitions from a low-cost, point-to-point carrier to a fully-fledged network airline. As well as leading the WestJet Digital team at the airline's headquarters in Calgary, Tan will begin to build a second team in Toronto. Together, these teams will collaborate in building out WestJet's full digital capabilities...
Porter Signs New Deal With Travelport
Travelport reports that Porter Airlines has signed a new multi-year renewal content agreement, becoming the latest Canadian airline that has signed on for Travelport's Rich Content and Branding merchandising solution. Under the new deal, Porter will join more than 250 global airlines using Travelport's Rich Content and Branding merchandising solution to display their branded fares and ancillary content in a graphically rich and visual way in order to feature ancillary products more prominently. For travel agents shopping for and booking flights via Travelport's Airline Merchandising...
YVR, Destination Canada Sign Deal
Vancouver Airport Authority (YVR) and Destination Canada have signed a Memorandum of Understanding designed to strengthen the relationship between the two organizations and to align strategic priorities in air service development, tourism and business opportunities throughout Canada. The Honourable Bardish Chagger, Minister of Small Business and Tourism and Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, said: “This agreement is great news for Canadian tourism. Following Canada 150, and what I expect will be the best year ever for Canadian tourism, this agreement will help bring...
Sunwing Travel Group Recognized
For the 13th year, Sunwing Travel Group has made PROFIT Magazine’s list of Canada's “Fastest-Growing Companies” with a five-year growth rate of 156%. The PROFIT 500 ranks Canadian businesses by their revenue growth. As the only vertically integrated travel company included on the PROFIT 500 index, Sunwing Travel Group operates a leisure charter airline with a fleet of 40 planes, a luxury charter service with access to private jets, three North American tour operators, two travel retailers, a hotel division with a portfolio exceeding 14,000 rooms, a vacation club and a destination...
Talking About A New Generation
The travel trade has just a couple of months to get used to the idea of the New Generation IATA Settlement Systems (NewGen ISS) because a progressive wave roll-out is slated to start on March 1, with worldwide implementation scheduled for the end of 2019, reports Quebec editor, Mike Dunbar in the second part of a multi-part series on IATA in this week's digital edition of Canadian Travel Press. And all stakeholders had better get used to idea because, unlike the New Distribution Capability (NDC) initiative, it’s compulsory, said IATA director general, Alexandre de Juniac, in an aside...
Emirates Orders 36 A380s
Emirates has announced a US$16 billion deal for 36 additional Airbus A380 aircraft, with 20 firm orders and 16 options. The additional Airbus A380s will be delivered to Emirates from 2020 onwards. Together with the airline’s 101-strong A380 fleet and its current order backlog for 41 aircraft, this new order brings Emirates’ commitment to the A380 program to 178 aircraft, worth more than US$ 60...
New Turkish Airlines’ App Offers Discount
Turkish Airlines is offering a 15% discount on all domestic and international flights for passengers who download the latest version of the carrier's mobile app. Travellers can apply the discount to any economy or business class flight purchased from Jan. 18-20 for travel from Jan. 20 through Dec. 31. The new Turkish Airlines app offers an improved user experience when planning trips, purchasing tickets or using airline miles. Tasks such as buying tickets, making reservations and tracking saved flights have been made much faster with the redesign. The updated app also added a...
Heffron Retiring From Transat
After 25 years, Denise Heffron is retiring. She'll leave her post as Transat's vice-president, national sales and commercial on March 2 of this year and without a doubt, Heffron will be missed, not just by her company, but by the hundreds of friends that she has made in this industry over the years. Joseph Adamo, chief distribution officer, Transat, commented: “On behalf of the entire Transat organization, I extend to Denise our heartfelt gratitude and admiration for her significant contributions in establishing the company on a national level.” Adamo continued: “Her...