Airlines
Air France Inaugurates Paris-Vancouver Flights
Driving rain welcomed the inaugural arrival of the new Air France service to Vancouver International Airport from Paris on March 29. After clearing customs, dignitaries and airline brass met media and guests in the departure lounge amidst French-themed cuisine, music and appointments. This kicks off a schedule of up to five flights per week to Paris-Charles de Gaulle from YVR. Flights are being operated by a Boeing 777-200 with 309 seats: 35 in business class, 24 in premium economy and 250 in economy. To encourage further participation by agents, Air France has rolled out a...
TAM Airlines Launches New Gateway Toronto
Canadians have a new route to Brazil and South America with the launch of TAM Airlines service from Toronto yesterday (March 30). The carrier, part of the LATAM Group – a merger of TAM and LAN airlines – will fly five times a week from Pearson via New York JFK. At that point, passengers can carry on with TAM to São Paulo’s Guarulhos International Airport or connect onto the LAN network direct to destinations like Ecuador, Argentina and Chile. TAM, Brazil's largest carrier, has a vast network in South America and is the only Brazilian carrier operating in Canada. It is also...
AC Introduces Apple Watch App
Air Canada has developed an app for the recently unveiled Apple Watch designed to make it even more convenient for customers on-the-go to obtain important travel information and initiate tasks such as checking-in. “Air Canada is excited to offer customers the convenience of our new Air Canada app for Apple Watch. The app will allow customers to easily check their flight status and boarding times. They will also be able to save precious time with notifications that prompt them to check-in and board. The app further advances Air Canada's mobile strategy of innovating with the latest...
On Road From Tianguis
Press Today's Ian Stalker reports that the man who oversees the Mexico Tourism Board's Quebec office is welcoming upcoming Air Canada rouge service between Montreal and Mexico City. Manuel Montelongo told Baxter Travel Media that the carrier will begin five-times-a-week service between the Mexican and Quebec cities in early May, which is "amazing news" for Mexico City's tourism trade. Mexican tourism officials have long been encouraging Canadians not to limit their Mexican vacations to beach destinations. Montelongo acknowledged during Mexico's tourism show Tianguis last week...
Air Canada to Carry Canada’s Top Hockey Teams
Air Canada reports that it is the airline of choice for Canada's major professional hockey teams. Under six-year agreements with six of Canada's top professional teams, the airline will provide air transportation through Air Canada Jetz, its in-house, all-Premium Class charter service operated by mainline Air Canada pilots and flight attendants. The six-year agreements begin at the start of the 2015-16 season and cover the Montreal Canadiens, the Ottawa Senators, the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Winnipeg Jets, the Calgary Flames and the Vancouver Canucks. In addition to the six Canadian...
AeroMexico Back In Toronto
AeroMexico will soon link Toronto and Mexico City, part of a strategy that it expects will have it serving all three of this country's largest cities before the end of 2015, reports Ian Stalker in this week's digital edition of Travel Courier. The airline will begin non-stop Toronto-Mexico City service on May 4 using B737s that can carry 124 passengers, 12 of them in business class. AeroMexico's flights will leave the Ontario capital at 8:30 a.m., arriving in Mexico City at 12:35 p.m. Return flights will leave Mexico City at 1 a.m., arriving in Toronto at 6:46 a.m. The airline...
ALTA Sees Traffic Increase
The Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association (ALTA) reports its member airlines carried 17 million passengers in January, up 6.2% – or one million additional passengers – from the previous year. Traffic grew 6.7% and capacity increased 4.8%, bringing the load factor up to 81.9%, 1.5 percentage points higher than in January 2014. Reporting airlines: Aerolíneas Argentinas (includes Austral), Aeromar, Aeromexico, Aeromexico Connect, Avianca, Copa Airlines, Copa Airlines Colombia, GOL, Insel Air, LATAM Airlines Group and...
WestJet Advises Caution
WestJet has uncovered a scam involving a deeply discounted airfare offer for registrants of an upcoming conference in the US. While doing routine checks of WestJet's credit card transactions, WestJet fraud investigators discovered a scam advertising return flights for up to 50% lower than fares available through westjet.com. It's estimated as many as 100 conference registrants accepted the offer and paid for airfare only to discover that their ticket was invalid because it was purchased with other individuals' stolen credit cards. “This scheme validates the steps we take to...