Airlines
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...
Flair Names New CEO
Flair Airlines Ltd. has announced that Jim Scott will assume the position of chief executive officer of Flair Airlines and will be joined by Jerry Presley, the company’s new executive board chairman, representing the majority stakeholder investment group. The announcement comes six months following the purchase of NewLeaf Travel Company’s assets in June 2017. Flair Airlines founder, and former president, Jim Rogers has sold his shares, but will remain on the Advisory Council until 2019. “Flair is fortunate to have a talented executive like Jim Scott as its next leader. With...
Agents’ Choice 2018 – It’s Time To Vote
Agents' Choice 2018 is back and it's better than ever. This year, Canada's favourite travel agency poll has expanded a number of categories. For example, agents will now be able to vote for their favourite destinations in the Caribbean, Europe, Mexico, Asia, Canada, the USA and more. Canadian retailers will also be able to pick their favourite tour operator offering programs to each of these regions as well. Agents' Choice 2018 has also added new categories that allow agents to vote for their favourite travel agent education program and their favourite travel agent loyalty and...
WestJet Set For A Busy Summer
WestJet will release its 2018 summer schedule during the last week of January, a schedule that will include a significant number of changes. In a travel agency update, officials noted that over the next few years, WestJet will become a global airline with an expanded network serviced by new aircraft. To achieve this goal, it is making changes to its schedule that are vital to growth and filling its wide-body aircraft. The 2018 summer schedule will include: Improved connectivity and growth in WestJet's three hubs, Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary; Schedule improvements with increased...
Sunwing Savings
Sunwing has launched a “Buy One Get One at Half Price” seat sale. Travellers who book their flight by Jan. 19 for departures between Feb. 1 and April 30 will receive a second seat at 50% off the normal selling price. Sunwing offers flights to more than 50 destinations from 35 departure airports. New travel options for this season include Mont Joli, Quebec and Abbotsford, BC. Travellers can also take advantage of the same savings if they buy flights from Buffalo. Sunwing offers daily service to many of the most popular vacation hot spots including Cuba, Jamaica, Mexico and the...
Keflavik Airport Smashes Records
Iceland is hot. Growing by an immense 28% in passenger numbers, Iceland’s Keflavik Airport welcomed 8.8 million passengers in 2017. Seeing nearly two million more passengers than the year before, the Icelandic hub saw balanced growth across O&D and connecting traffic, resulting in another record-breaking year for the gateway. “It’s exhilarating to be part of the rapid growth we’re experiencing here at Keflavik and it’s showing no signs of slowing down,” said Hlynur Sigurdsson, Commercial Director, Isavia. He added, “To get a clear idea of how rapidly our...
CIE Tours Partners With Air Canada
Ireland and Britain’s largest tour operator – CIE Tours International – has introduced air-inclusive guided vacations for Canadian travellers, thanks to a new partnership with Air Canada. The agreement enables CIE Tours to package competitively priced flights within its tour price for travel originating at any airport serviced by Air Canada with direct flights to Shannon or Dublin. In addition, those who book select guided vacations by Jan. 31 can take advantage of CIE Tours’ “2 for 1 Companion Flies Free” promotion (use promotion code TWOFORONE18C). The free non-stop...
AGENTS’ CHOICE IS BACK!
The theme at Baxter Media these days is all about “making it new,” so it should surprise no one that that's exactly what we're going to do with Agents' Choice in 2018. Actually, we already started making those changes with the Canadian travel industry's favourite and most influential poll of travel agents in 2017 with a brand new design that showcases the results in a way that makes for easy reading. And we're happy to report that last year, 5,770 Canadian travel agents voted for their favourites in 30 different categories, making it the second highest response rate in the history...