Airlines
Picking The Winners
At this year's World Travel Market in London, Air Canada received a World Travel Leaders Award. Formerly the WTM Global Awards, these awards recognize those individuals and organization that have contributed the most to the global travel and tourism industry over the lifetime of the World Travel Market (35 years). The 12 awards are shortlisted by WTM’s leading media partners, with the winners chosen by an elite judging panel comprising of senior industry leaders. From Canada, this year's winner -- as nominated by Canadian Travel Press – was Air Canada. And Andrew Edmonds,...
Strong Passenger Growth Continues: IATA
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) reports global passenger traffic results for September showing demand growth of 5.3% (measured in revenue passenger kilometres or RPKs) over September 2013. This continues the positive growth trend for passenger demand even though the performance was slightly below the August year-over-year rise of 6.3%. September capacity rose 5.1% and load factor rose 0.2 percentage points to 80.3%. “Overall, demand for passenger travel is growing in line with expectations. We saw, however, some shifting of the sources of that growth in...
Taking Stock
In this week's digital edition of Travel Courier, Mike Dunbar reports that the world’s airlines will have to improve their bottom line results if they’re going to attract the investment that’s going to be required to buy the aircraft needed to meet the demands of an exploding air travel market. 2014 marks the first century of commercial aviation. From a flying boat carrying a single passenger from St. Pete to Tampa in January 1914, the industry has evolved into a global giant carrying 3.3 billion travellers on almost 100,000 flights a day across 50,000 separate routes this...
Above and Beyond Takes Flight
WestJet has unveiled a new platform celebrating Canadians who go above and beyond in their daily lives to inspire us. The true stories of people who make a difference in the lives of others will be featured on aboveandbeyond.ca. “People who go above and beyond are inspiring,” said Lauri Feser, WestJet vice-president, Marketing. “They make a difference in the lives of everyone who crosses their path. As a company known for its caring culture – something that is built into our DNA – we want to share and celebrate these stories because these are the people who inspire us to be...
Air France-KLM Add Vancouver, Edmonton Services
Beginning May 5, 2015, KLM will offer three weekly flights between Amsterdam and Edmonton. And, starting June 22, there will be four weekly frequencies. Flights will be operated by Airbus A330-200 with 243 seats – 30 in World Business Class, 35 in Economy Comfort Zone (offering 10 inches of additional legroom and a doubled seat recline) and 178 in Economy. This service will be in addition to daily flights to Calgary. From May 5 to June 21, 2015, flights will operate on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Starting June 22, flights will operate on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and...
WestJet Adds Lauderdale Service Out of Winnipeg
WestJet has launched new weekly, seasonal, non-stop service between Winnipeg and Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Flights out of the Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson Airport run every Saturday until April 25, 2015. “Winnipeg is a keystone base where service has grown significantly across Canada and, with today's launch, into its fifth non-stop US destination,” said John Weatherill, director, Schedule and Network Planning. “Manitobans love to escape the cold, and our new, non-stop service provides one more opportunity to head to the Sunshine State. The schedule is well-timed to...
A New Connection
Bellevue, Washington-headquartered, Concur has unveiled details of a new partnership with Air Canada during its Fusion Exchange event in Toronto earlier this week. The new partnership will see the spend management solutions and services provider working with the airline to develop and enable corporate travel booking solutions functionality for http://www.aircanada.com and Air Canada apps. The announcement said that businesses -- by leveraging Concur TripLink – will be able to capture direct Air Canada corporate bookings while still receiving their corporate benefits and meeting their...
A Landmark Agreement
Air Canada is welcoming the confirmation by the Air Canada Pilots Association (ACPA) that its members have ratified a landmark agreement on collective agreement terms for 10 years. Calin Rovinescu, president and CEO of Air Canada, said: "This ten-year agreement with the Air Canada Pilots Association is a ground-breaking development which allows us to accelerate the implementation of our business strategy on a win-win basis with our pilots." Rovinescu pointed out that: "The new agreement provides greater stability and long term cost certainty as well as a framework for a strong...