Airlines
UPDATE: Etihad Wins Injunction In Germany
Etihad Airways has won its bid for an injunction and is welcoming the ruling by the Administrative Court of Braunschweig which allows it to continue operating all of its codeshare flights with airberlin to destinations in Europe, the US and the UAE. The injunction, which is valid until Nov. 8, 2015, provides an opportunity for the parties to resolve outstanding differences through ongoing consultation between the governments of the United Arab Emirates and the Federal Republic of Germany. Etihad Airways as well as airberlin will continue to honour all flights and passenger travel...
WestJet 767-300 Takes To The Air
WestJet's first Boeing 767-300 extended-range aircraft made its inaugural flight yesterday, departing Toronto Pearson International en route to Calgary International Airport. Featuring a new teal and blue maple leaf-themed logo, which will eventually appear on all WestJet aircraft, the airline's 767-300s seat 262 guests and have a range of approximately 11 hours. The aircraft will include a Plus cabin with 24 premium seats in a two-by-two configuration, hot meals and all other amenities associated with Plus. The main cabin has 238 seats, with two seats on either side of the aircraft...
Copa Airlines Honoured
Star Alliance member Copa Airlines has been named “Mexico and Central America’s Leading Airline” for the third consecutive year by the World Travel Awards. Winners were named Oct. 10 in Bogota, Colombia, at the WTA’s 22nd presentation of the awards. An international panel of tourism experts selected the nominees by region and category. The World Travel Awards registered a record number of votes this year, with more than 650,000 votes cast from tourism professionals and customers. Categories included hotels, airlines, airports, travel agencies, auto-leasing agencies and other...
Air France, KLM Increase Winter Service
Air France and KLM have released their schedule for flights to and from Canada for the winter season, which will run from Oct. 26 to March 28, 2016, and sees a 13% increase in capacity. The addition of two new routes, Vancouver-Paris (Air France) and Edmonton-Amsterdam (KLM), raises the number of weekly flights from 46 to 52 over last winter. Air France is offering its usual winter service of two flights daily between Montreal and Paris, and one flight a day out of Toronto. Rounding things out are three weekly flights on the new Vancouver-Paris route launched in March. This...
LH DCC Just The ‘Initial Piece’
Jorg Hennemann, Lufthansa's senior VP for automated sales, pricing and distribution received a warm welcome when he was introduced to a World Passenger Symposium audience in Hamburg today (Wednesday). Alluding to the airline's controversial Distribution Cost Charge, he quipped, "We are generally not received so well these days and I don't understand why!" But in a chilling message to opponents of the charge, Hennemann indicated there was no going back, explaining, "the DCC is only an initial piece. It's important but it's not the whole...
Frankfurt Airport Opens Green Gate
Frankfurt Airport unveiled its first Green Gate recently, offering greener aircraft ground servicing through the use of electric vehicles and the integration of new electrically driven developments in the servicing process. “The use of electric vehicles in aircraft servicing and rolling and towing traffic can substantially reduce noise and emissions at airports,” said Norbert Barthle, parliamentary state secretary at Germany's Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure. “This protects the environment and the staff on the ground.” As part of the airport's...
AC, Flight Attendants Reach Tentative Agreement
Air Canada and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) have reached a new agreement, subject to ratification, on collective agreement terms for 10 years for the approximately 6,500 flight attendants at Air Canada and 700 at Air Canada rouge. “This new, 10-year agreement with CUPE is an important development which will support long term profitable growth for the benefit of Air Canada, our stakeholders and our flight attendants at both mainline and Air Canada rouge,” said Benjamin Smith, president, Passenger Airlines, Air Canada. “This is a win-win agreement that will provide...
WestJet Increases Orlando Service
WestJet is making it easier for residents of BC and Atlantic Canada to visit Mickey this winter as it will double its schedule of weekly flights between St. John's and Orlando, and Vancouver and Orlando, effective January 2016. This is in addition to the new weekly service to Orlando from St. John's and Vancouver announced earlier this year. “With the addition of a second weekly flight from St. John's, WestJet now offers Atlantic Canadians eight non-stop flights each week from St. John's, Charlottetown, Halifax and Moncton, giving travellers many options for affordable,...