Airlines
QTA, Qatar Airways Extend ‘Free’ Stopover Offer
Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) and Qatar Airways will continue offering their stopover package until the end of the year. The enticing offer -- part of a broader +Qatar campaign -- encourages all transit passengers to add Qatar to their travel plans and provides transit passengers with an opportunity to discover the country. The offering includes free luxury hotel stays and complimentary transit visas. Initially planned to run from May until the end of the summer, the offer will now continue until Dec. 31 December. During the initial period, the country welcomed 34% more transit...
Committed To Vancouver
Vancouver’s growing prominence in the Air Canada route network was confirmed at a New Routes event by the airline last week, at a club in the fashionable Yaletown district of the city. Leading the presentation was Bonnie Walker, AC director of sales for western Canada. She told assembled agents, tour operators and corporate partners that Air Canada had inaugurated 11 routes from YVR in 2017. These include the destinations of Denver, Dallas, Boston, Phoenix, Frankfurt, Nagoya, Taipei and Gatwick. In December, Air Canada will start flights to Melbourne, which is the airline’s third...
WestJet Partners With The Chopped Leaf
WestJet has partnered with fresh casual restaurant, The Chopped Leaf, in a move that will see the restaurant's whole-food offerings available on board WestJet aircraft. “WestJet and The Chopped Leaf have a common goal to break down the 'airline food' stigma,” said Rossen Dimitrov, WestJet chief guest experience officer. “The ingredients in our new menu have been sourced to provide healthier options with quality and taste in mind. We continue to evolve our onboard offerings to meet the needs of our 22 million annual guests.” “WestJet values are very similar to ours at The...
WestJet Unveils Canada’s First Boeing 737 MAX
In an aviation first for Canada, WestJet has unveiled its first Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, one of 50 scheduled for delivery in the next four years. “We are proud to make history as the first Canadian airline to receive the Boeing 737 MAX,” said Ed Sims, WestJet executive vice-president, Commercial. “The MAX's design updates, including Boeing's Advanced Technology winglets and the Boeing Sky Interior, will contribute to improvements in fuel efficiency and overall guest experience. We look forward to welcoming guests on board our sleek new aircraft along with our signature caring,...
Hawaii Flying High
Economic sustainability for the Hawaii tourism industry relies almost exclusively on the volume of airline traffic that flies into the islands, and between the islands. So delegates to the recent Global Tourism Summit held in Waikiki were pleased to hear a generally bullish outlook in the forecast for Hawaii's airline capacity in the near future, in a presentation by Brad DeFiore, managing director of Ailevon Pacific Aviation Consulting, reports western editor, Ted Davis in the Hawaii: Paradise Perfected supplement in the Oct. 9 issue of Canadian Travel Press. For example, his...
Are You Being Served?
In a move designed to provide better and faster support to home-based and smaller, independent agencies, Air Canada has rolled out Air Canada Liaison, reports executive editor, Bob Mowat in this week's digital edition of Canadian Travel Press. The self-service platform was launched earlier this year and is presently being used by over 100 agencies, and company officials are confident that its use by the agency community will continue to grow. In an exclusive interview, Air Canada's senior director, sales for Canada, Virgilio Russi told Canadian Travel Press that “we've found that...
It’s A Wrap!
WestJet has wrapped up its annual travel trade Expos, reporting that since April of this year, the events have reached over 4,000 travel agents in over 30 cities across Canada. Lyell Farquharson, vice-president, sales and distribution for WestJet, said that: “With our larger travel trade Expos in the spring of 2017, our fall Expos and local presentations hosted by WestJet's business development managers throughout the year, we have had the chance to have face-time with thousands of our agent partners.” Farquharson observed that: “Every year, we are adding more events and seeing...
Reshaping The Passenger Experience
IATA will be focusing on how technology, data, customization and digital transformation will reshape the customer experience of tomorrow at its 2017 World Passenger Symposium (WPS) which takes place in Barcelona, Spain from Oct. 24-26. Aleks Popovich, senior vice-president, financial and distribution services for IATA, observed, “Digital transformation is a key strategic driver for our industry. Our customers are telling us what they value through the choices they make: from their preferred digital device to shop for air travel, to what they purchase, to how they check-in, to their...