Airlines
Air Canada Helping Out In BC
Describing the fires in BC as a “devastating situation,” Air Canada says that “our hearts go out to everyone involved.” But the airline also advised that for people who are travelling during this difficult time, it's offering assistance, ticket flexibility, reduced fares and more to travellers in affected areas. The carrier said in a statement that if customers do not have a ticket and are seeking to fly from Kamloops, Kelowna, Penticton, Prince George and Williams Lake as a result of the state of emergency, Air Canada is providing an additional 25% discount, as well as...
WestJet Signs Deal With Amadeus
WestJet has signed a new multi-year agreement with Amadeus for worldwide distribution including ancillary services. Under the new agreement, subscribers worldwide have continued access via the Amadeus global distribution system to WestJet’s broad range of content. The agreement also continues to provide access and booking of the carrier’s ancillary offerings including options such as seat selection, baggage and priority boarding. Ed Sims, executive vice-president, commercial for WestJet, explained that: “As WestJet evolves as a global carrier, our new agreement with Amadeus...
A Perfect Fit
Air Transat has signed an agreement with AerCap for the long-term (12-year) leasing of 10 Airbus A321neo long-range aircraft. The aircraft are to be delivered between spring 2019 and fall 2020, and will replace Transat’s Airbus A310s, which will be gradually retired from the fleet. The A321neo LRs will be deployed on both Sun destinations and transatlantic routes. Combined with the Airbus A330s and Boeing 737s, they will serve Transat’s entire network in an efficient and cost-effective way. Air Transat’s A321neo LRs will be configured for 200 seats across both classes:...
WestJet Turns Up The Heat
WestJet has launched an Early Booking Bonus on eligible WestJet Vacations packages to anywhere in Mexico, the Caribbean or Hawaii where each guest on the booking can receive an additional 100 WestJet dollars. Lyell Farquharson, vice-president, sales and business development for WestJet, said: “WestJet is giving our guests an even greater incentive to book early and secure their spot in the sun this coming winter." The Early Booking Bonus is available to WestJet Rewards members on WestJet Vacation packages anywhere in Mexico, the Caribbean or Hawaii with a minimum package price of...
Simple And Fast
Mastercard reports that Masterpass is now available on http://www.aircanada.com and http://www.vacations.aircanada.com and helps travellers get from booking to vacation-mode a lot faster. Air Canada joins a rapidly expanding roster of travel sites offering fast, easy and secure digital payment with Masterpass. Duncan Bureau, vice-president, global sales for Air Canada, said that: “Air Canada is committed to continually enhancing the entire travel experience, including making it as easy as possible for customers to make purchases from Air Canada and Air Canada Vacations....
Time For A Reset
The US Travel Association is hoping that a scathing report detailing America’s crumbling air transport infrastructure will spur remedial action from ``the very highest levels” of the federal government, reports Montreal editor, Mike Dunbar in this week's digital edition of Canadian Travel Press. Not only will the upcoming report catalogue the current shortcomings and inevitable future capacity crunch spawned by decades of non-investment, it will also provide Washington lawmakers with a series of recommendations designed to cure the sector’s ills, according to the association’s...
IATA Retiring YY Fares
IATA is rescinding YY Fares from Oct. 31, 2018. The decision to rescind YY Fares was taken with a vote by the IATA Passenger Tariffs Conference on June 28. The rescinding of YY fares reflects the dramatic transformation that continues to take place in the distribution of airline products. YY fares are IATA multilateral interlineable fares. Established in 1945, they successfully enabled consumers to purchase a single ticket in a single currency, giving worldwide travel options on different airlines and luggage checked through to final destination. Until the 1980’s most...
IATA By The Numbers
IATA reports that global passenger traffic results for May showed that demand – measured in revenue passenger kilometers, or RPKs – rose 7.7% compared to the same month in 2016. That was slower than the 10.9% growth recorded in April, however, IATA notes that this was still well ahead of the 5-year and 10-year average growth rates. Capacity climbed 6.1%, and load factor rose 1.2 percentage points to 80.1%, which was a record high for the month. All regions, excluding the Middle East and North America, posted record-high May load factors. After adjusting for inflation, airfares...