Airlines
Sunwing Set to Launch Ottawa-St. Petersburg Service
It will soon be even easier for residents of Ottawa to reach some of Florida’s finest beaches with the introduction of Sunwing Vacations' new direct, non-stop flight to St. Petersburg-Clearwater, commencing Dec. 18. Departing Thursdays, the weekly service will be operated on Boeing 737-800 series aircraft that seat 189 passengers. The addition of the new route this winter will make Ottawa the third Canadian city to benefit from a direct, non-stop service to the region after Toronto and Halifax. Both St. Petersburg and Clearwater frequently make it into the top 10 best beaches...
Pilot Walkout Leads to Lufthansa Flight Disruptions
A planned pilot walkout has forced Lufthansa to cancel more than 100 Munich flights today (Sept. 10) affecting thousands of passengers. The eight-hour walkout by members of the Vereinigung Cockpit union is the third strike at the German airline in two weeks. Lufthansa has published a special flight schedule for its Munich hub at its http://www.LH.com web site. Thomas Klühr, member of the Lufthansa German Airlines Board, Finances & Hub Munich, commented, “This strike will cause severe inconveniences for our passengers, especially during the final holiday week in Bavaria...
Qatar to Start Non-Stop Doha-Phuket Service
Qatar Airways will boost services to Thailand with the introduction of non-stop flights to Phuket, effective Oct. 26. The airline currently serves the Doha-Phuket route daily via a linked service through the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur. Qatar CEO Akbar Al Baker commented, “The start of non-stop services from Doha to Phuket offers travellers from around the world access to the popular tourist destination in a reduced time, from across our expanding global network. “With the upcoming winter holidays, this is a great opportunity for travellers from the Middle East, Europe,...
WestJet, Live Different Team Up
WestJet has launched a three-year, enhanced partnership with Canadian charity Live Different and its Hero Holiday program, an initiative providing year-round global humanitarian opportunities in Mexico, Dominican Republic, Haiti and Thailand. Since 2012, WestJet has supported Live Different with the WestJet Hero Holiday program on an annual basis in the community of Nuevo Renacer, located near Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic. This year's Hero Holiday, taking place in October, marks the beginning of a new three-year partnership with the organization. “Our goal is to find...
Southwest Unveils New Look
Southwest Airlines introduced a modern new look to its brand yesterday at an event dedicated to its employees. The airline unveiled a new aircraft livery, named Heart One, airport experience, and logo. The new look “puts the airline’s Heart on display, showcasing the strength of the nearly 46,000 employees company wide.” “Our collective heartbeat is stronger and healthier than ever, and that’s because of the warmth, the compassion, and the smiles of our people,” said Southwest president and CEO Gary Kelly. “The Heart emblazoned on our aircraft, and within our new look,...
US Stats Confirm A New Transborder Reality
In this week's digital edition of Canadian Travel Press, Montreal editor, Mike Dunbar reports that according to data just released by the Department of Commerce in Washington DC, Air Canada operated 2,887 flights between Canada and the United States in April 2013 but that number had plummeted 35.3% to just 1,867 in the same month this year. Biggest beneficiary was Toronto Island Airport-based Sky Regional, which upped its monthly operation from a mere 43 trans-border flights to 1,095 year-over-year. That was a massive 2446.5% increase, which prompted an International Trade...
Air Canada Has A Month To Remember
Air Canada has reported a record system load factor of 89.8% for the month of August, versus 89.5% in August 2013, an all-time record for any month in the corporation's history, representing an increase of 0.3 percentage points on a system-wide capacity increase of 10.4%. On this additional capacity, system wide traffic for August increased 10.8%. Air Canada reports traffic results on a system-wide basis, including Air Canada rouge, which began operations on July 1, 2013, and regional airlines from which Air Canada purchases capacity. “I am extremely pleased to report a record...
An Unacceptable Situation
Calling the timing “unacceptable” and the situation “incomprehensible,” Lufthansa said on Friday that it “deeply regrets that the Vereinigung Cockpit pilots’ union has not refrained from causing massive disruption to flight operations in the peak holiday period.” Lufthansa noted that the strike comes at the end of the school holidays in Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate and in its view, is being taken “in order to push through its [the union's] own interests. Strike action had previously severely restricted flight operations at Lufthansa’s subsidiary Germanwings for six...