Airlines
Get Tracking
Through the global deployment of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology – which can accurately track passengers’ baggage in real time across key points in the journey – the air transport industry is looking at savings of more than US$3 billion over the next seven years. According to global IT provider SITA and IATA, the highly accurate tracking rates of RFID technology could reduce the number of mishandled bags by up to 25% by 2022, mainly through efficient tracking. The SITA/IATA business case was released this week during IATA's World Passenger Symposium in Dubai,...
Make It Simple
IATA unveiled what it describes as its “transformative vision” for air travel during its World Passenger Symposium (WPS) that's been taking place in Dubai this week. That vision is designed to enable IATA's members to successfully accommodate a near doubling in demand for air travel over the next two decades. According to IATA’s latest passenger forecast, some 7.2 billion air trips will take place in 2035, up from 3.8 billion in 2016. Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s director general and CEO, said: “My dream journey through the airport would offer security processes that are...
A New Taste On Board
Sunwing has unveiled its new Sunwing Café on board menu developed in partnership with Food Network Canada Celebrity Chef, Lynn Crawford. The new menu will include a range of high-quality light meals and snacks and feature dishes inspired by Crawford. For breakfast, there will be honey Dijon peameal bacon on a kaiser, topped with onion marmalade and grainy mustard aioli. Lunch and dinner choices include slow-cooked beef short ribs served with herb roasted fingerling potatoes, heirloom carrots, double smoked bacon, pearl onions and Bourguignon sauce and baked pasta with roasted...
Take Off To The Azores
Rui Amen hopes that watersports enthusiasts who have never vacationed in the middle of the Atlantic will 'fin-ally' do so. Amen, with the Azores Promotion Board, told an Oct. 19 Toronto event that the Azores is “one of the top five places in the world” for whale-watching, and the archipelago is also becoming one of the “hot spots in the Atlantic for diving. It's a perfect place for you to see a dolphin while you're diving” and also “one of the best places to dive with blue sharks,” Amen added, with the latter not considered a dangerous activity. Wreck diving is also...
Make It ONE
IATA's Passenger Services Conference (PSC) has adopted a Resolution on a standard for the ONE Order initiative. Leveraging the data communication advances from the New Distribution Capability, ONE Order will modernize and simplify airline order management, including the delivery, fulfilment and accounting processes related to airline products and services. For passengers, ONE Order will mean the gradual disappearance of multiple reservation records in favor of one document and a single order number. Aleks Popovich, aenior vice-president, financial and distribution services for...
It’s In The Air
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) expects 7.2 billion passengers to travel in 2035, a near doubling of the 3.8 billion air travellers in 2016. The prediction is based on a 3.7% annual Compound Average Growth Rate (CAGR) noted in the release of the latest update to the association’s 20-Year Air Passenger Forecast. “People want to fly. Demand for air travel over the next two decades is set to double. Enabling people and nations to trade, explore, and share the benefits of innovation and economic prosperity makes our world a better place,” said IATA director...
Star Alliance, Juneyao Seal Partnership
Star Alliance and Juneyao Airlines have formally sealed a strategic partnership which will see the Shanghai-based airline become a “Connecting Partner” of Star Alliance in 2017. Under the Alliance’s partnership concept, the airline will soon start offering services such as through-check-in, as well as Lounge access and other Priority privileges to qualifying passengers travelling on connecting itineraries with Star Alliance member airlines. Mark Schwab, CEO Star Alliance, commented: “Juneyao Airlines is a terrific addition to our network proposition in China and particularly...
Charting A New Course
Among the many factors that influence the higher cost of airfares in Canada is the ownership status of the nation's airports, reports western editor, Ted Davis in this week's digital edition of Canadian Travel Press. There is still no word from federal transportation authorities on what the future holds for Canadian airports in terms of ownership, but there is plenty of speculation and opinion on where this issue is heading. While some voices are advocating for full private sector ownership, other stakeholders express misgivings with this strategy, and support a business model that...