Airlines
A Premium Experience
Emirates is now offering its loyalty program members and their guests the opportunity to use that carrier's luxury lounges at Dubai International Airport for a minimal fee regardless of their class of travel. The pay-per-visit access will be available to Emirates Skywards members and their guests travelling on Emirates. Business Class travellers now also have the option to pay an upgrade fee to access the First Class lounges. Dubai International Airport is home to seven Emirates lounges spread over three concourses - A, B and C. In each of the concourses there is a dedicated...
Island Air Charts A New Course
Hawaii Islands-based Island Air has begun increasing the number of inter-island flights on its schedule, following the addition of new Q400 aircraft to its fleet, Over the next four months, the carrier plans to phase in new regularly scheduled flights that will significantly increase its round-trip service between Oahu and the neighbour islands. The number of daily round-trip flights between Honolulu and Kahului will double to 16; between Honolulu and Kona will increase from six to 10; and the number of daily round-trip flights between Honolulu and Lihue will grow from six to...
Closed Borders Risk Jobs
The World Travel & Tourism Council's (WTTC) president and CEO, David Scowsill is warning that: “The United States is in danger of taking the same path it took after the 9/11 terror attacks, which led to a decade of economic stagnation in the travel and tourism sector.” Scowsill issued the warning in a speech at the Routes Americas aviation conference in Las Vegas. During the event's Strategy Summit, Scowsill stated that: “Strict visa policies and inward-looking sentiment led to a $600 billion loss in tourism revenues in the decade post 9/11, as previously reported by...
Long Term, Full Content
Long-time partners, Travelport and Air Canada have signed a new, long-term, full content agreement that establishes a framework for ongoing merchandising, branding, and technology collaboration between the two travel industry leaders. The new deal will see Travelport-connected agencies in over 180 countries having real-time access to search, sell, and book Air Canadas fares and inventory through the Travelport Travel Commerce Platform. As well, Air Canada will expand its use of Travelports technology solutions – including Travelport Rich Content and Branding -- to display its...
WestJet Shakes Up Quebec
WestJet is making a significant investment in Quebec's travel and tourism market with increased service and new routes to and from MontréalPierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport as well as Quebec City's Jean Lesage International Airport. Overall, the airline is adding 105 more flights per week in the province – a capacity increase of 74%. Bob Cummings, executive vice-president commercial for WestJet, said, “Our unique brand of great service and low fares has been embraced across Canada for more than 20 years and WestJet is here to offer more choice and competition to the...
Dump The Deal
The Southwest Airlines Pilots' Association (SWAPA) and the NetJets Association of Shared Aircraft Pilots (NJASAP) are calling on President Donald J. Trump and newly confirmed Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao to move quickly to reverse the decision to grant Norwegian Air International a foreign air carrier permit. SWAPA and NJASAP say that decision poses a direct violation to the U.S.-EU Open Skies Agreement. SWAPA President Capt. Jon Weaks said: “This decision is just another failed trade deal by the Obama administration -- one that gives foreign companies an unfair advantage over...
AC Adds More Lift To Israel
Air Canada is significantly expanding its services between Canada and Israel, with the introduction of a seasonal non-stop service between Montreal and Tel Aviv and an increase in its current Toronto-Tel Aviv non-stop service to a daily frequency year-round. The new services start this summer and represent a 28% capacity increase over the summer of 2016. Calin Rovinescu, president and chief executive of Air Canada, commented: “Air Canada is the leader in the Canada-Israel market, which we have now served for 22 years. Today we are pleased to step up our capacity in response to the...
A 30th Anniversary Surprise
As part of the celebrations for its 30th anniversary, Transat has kicked off its contest for travel agents across Canada today. Every booking of a Transat product made today by midnight automatically earns agents a chance to win one of the first three trips for two people that will be drawn at random each month: one in Quebec, one in the Ontario-Atlantic region, and one in Western Canada. The three winners will win a package for two, including the Air Transat flight in Economy class and a one-week, all-inclusive stay at the brand-new Majestic Mirage Punta Cana Beach Resort, Golf,...