Airlines
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,...
Qatar Airways Has Plan B
Qatar Airways is readying a plan B if global distribution systems "put a stick in the wheel" of the International Air Transport Association's New Distribution Capability initiative. That was the shock announcement delivered by chief exec Akbar Al-Baker on the first day of IATA's World Passenger Symposium in Hamburg, reports Press Today's Montreal editor, Mike Dunbar from the conference. Even though Qatar was an early NDC pilot project participant, the ever-controversial Al-Baker stated, "We are not just relying on NDC; we have a plan B. It will be state-of-the-art and we are already...
AC Training Module Live on ACTA Campus
Air Canada, in partnership with ACTA, has launched the first module of a training program for agents in the ACTA Campus – an incentive program that can lead to agents becoming Air Canada Product Specialists. Agents who enroll or are already enrolled in the ACTA Campus can learn more about Air Canada, the global network of destinations and its suite of products starting with the introductory module on Air Canada rouge. Rob Puzzo, manager, Alliances Sales Strategy and Sales Effectiveness, for Air Canada commented, “Air Canada is proud to partner with ACTA and leverage the Travel...
WestJet, Disney Make More Magic With New Plane
It's hard to believe that anything Disney and WestJet – two of the savviest marketers around – do could be kept under wraps so thoroughly, but the two travel partners combined to amaze several hundred guests on Sunday at WestJet's hangar in Toronto with the unveiling of a new Disney-themed aircraft. Guests included WestJet rewards members (and their kids) plus a full complement of both WestJet and Disney staff and media, including PressToday. The plane is WestJet's second sporting a Disney theme, coming two years after the “MagicPlane” was unveiled. Unlike the Magic,...