Airlines
Porter Opens The Door For Aspiring Pilots
Porter Airlines welcomed aspiring pilots from as far away as Calgary and Yellowknife to its annual Destination Porter Open House at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport. Destination Porter is a mentorship program introduced to students early in flight training through outreach sessions. The open house, an exclusive event for students who are accepted into the program, provides opportunities to meet experienced pilots and executives, and learn about the culture and benefits of working at Porter. In June, Porter pilots volunteered their time to facilitate tours, provide mentorship advice...
Air Canada Responds to CBC Story on Skytrax Awards
The naming of Air Canada as the winner of Best Airline in North America by Skytrax World Airline Awards was cause for celebration at the airline, but a review of the award by the CBC did not go down well with airline management. Air Canada has won the title six times in the past eight years, lending even more credence to the celebrations. It was achieved through surveys of almost 20 million air travellers, and the title was unveiled during the 2017 International Paris Air Show. “This award is a significant milestone in the transformation of Air Canada into one of the world's...
Air Canada Rouge Marks Four Years
Along with Canada, Air Canada Rouge celebrated its birthday July 1, marking four years of service. From its first flight on Canada Day 2013, Air Canada's leisure carrier has grown to 49 aircraft from four, created 1,800 incremental jobs and flown more than 16 million customers. “Air Canada Rouge has proven itself to be tremendously popular with customers, as shown by steady growth that today has it operating more than 100 routes, up from an original 14,” said Benjamin Smith, president, Passenger Airlines at Air Canada. “It has also been a key driver of Air Canada's strategy,...
SAA Adds A330-300 On Washington, DC Route
South African Airways (SAA) has introduced the new Airbus A330-300 on the Washington DC-Dulles to Accra, Ghana route. This service compliments the existing Washington DC-Dulles to Dakar, Senegal route operated by the A330-300. The interior design of SAA’s A330-300s provide a comfortable environment for long-haul travel with warm, neutral colours, textures and finishes that are inspired by the airline’s African culture and heritage. In SAA’s seating configuration, the aircraft has the capacity for a total of 249 passengers, with 46 seats in Premium Business Class and 203 seats in...
Ethiopian Orders More
Ethiopian Airlines has placed an order for 10 additional Airbus A350-900 aircraft, enabling further development to its fast expanding long-haul route network. Last June, the airline became the first African carrier to operate the A350 when it took delivery of the first of 12 aircraft in order. It now operates a fleet of four A350s, two of which are on lease. The latest order tops-up the Addis Ababa-based carrier's fleet, enabling it to pursue its growth strategy and objectives over the coming years. Ethiopian Airlines' A350-900s are configured in a two class layout seating 30...
AC Inaugurates Toronto-Mumbai Service
Air Canada inaugurated new, non-stop Toronto-Mumbai service over the weekend, the only non-stop flight from Canada to India's largest city. The four-times weekly service is operated with Air Canada's Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. “Air Canada is always excited to launch a new route and this is particularly gratifying given Mumbai is India's largest city and regarded as its financial, commercial and entertainment capital. This flight is the third route we have started to India in less than two years, demonstrating our commitment to this vibrant market as well to our continuing...
Sunwing Offering PV Packages From Victoria
Sunwing is adding packages to Puerto Vallarta from Victoria, BC this winter for the first time. The operator will offer Saturday departures from Dec. 16 until April 7, 2018 to Puerto Vallarta, in addition to its regular Los Cabos service which will operate this winter on Sundays from Dec. 17 through April 8, 2018. Andrew Dawson, president of tour operations for Sunwing, said, “We’re very excited to be adding vacation packages to Puerto Vallarta from Victoria this coming winter. Puerto Vallarta has much to offer travellers of all ages. We’re sure that this new destination will be...
Are You Sitting Comfortably
Travel agents can now pre-purchase seats for their clients using a new self-serve option on WestJet’s website. This is kind of neat. If a travel agent books WestJet for their client using the GDS and does not add seats at the time of booking, the agent can simply search for their client’s reservation on westjet.com and pre-purchase seats. Travel agents can also direct their clients to WestJet’s website, where they will be able to select their seats using the same process. Lyell Farquharson, vice-president, sales for WestJet, said: “We understand how busy travel agents are,...