Airlines
Virgin Grounds Vancouver Service
Building on a two-year recovery plan, Virgin Atlantic has announced plans to update its network, which includes grounding its Vancouver service. In a statement, Virgin said summer seasonal service from London Heathrow to Vancouver will not return after this season’s flying program ends on Oct. 11. Officials also noted that if in the future Heathrow gains its “long overdue” expansion, Virgin Atlantic would love to re-enter the Vancouver...
Air Transat Unveils New Eco Fares
Air Transat has introduced new Eco Fares, offering “flexibility and worry-free vacations” to Economy Class passengers. The three new Eco Fares offer varying conditions for flight changes or cancellation, allowing passengers to modify their travel dates or even cancel their trip if necessary. Eco Fares are now available for all Air Transat flights. “Because each vacation is unique, we’re pleased to provide vacationers with more choices with the introduction of our new Eco Fares,” says Air Transat general manager Jean-François Lemay. “Travellers were already able to...
Deadline Extended
On April 16, the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) passed legislation to harmonize interline baggage rules with the US DOT with a compliance deadline of Oct. 1, which ACTA reports has now been extended to April 1, 2015. The new legislation forces air carriers to provide specific information to the consumer about all of the factors that may cause the fee for a carry-on bag and the first/second checked bag to vary. This new information must be included in addition to indicating what the standard baggage allowances and charges are applicable to the passenger for the first and second...
July Passenger Travel Shows Strong Growth: IATA
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) reports global passenger traffic results for July showing demand growth of 5.3% (measured in revenue passenger kilometres or RPKs) over the previous July. Capacity expanded exactly in tandem with demand (5.3%), resulting in a global load factor of 82.3%, unchanged from last year. “July was another strong month of growth for air travel. People are connecting by air in ever greater numbers. That’s true across all regions. Despite the various economic challenges, the outlook for passenger travel remains broadly positive,” said...
An NDC First
Amadeus and United Airlines have launched Amadeus’ Airline Ancillary Services Solution using NDC-XML (v1.0) connectivity, marking the first NDC-XML solution in the travel agency channel in North America. United’s vice-president of merchandizing and eCommerce, Scott Wilson said: “We are excited to be working with Amadeus to merchandize our Economy Plus extra-legroom seats via our travel agency partners. NDC-XML connectivity allows us to use a next-generation industry standard to effectively merchandize our portfolio of products and services to our customers.” Amadeus’...
Accentuating The Positive
Air Canada is making no secret of the fact that it wants to be a “global champion” in aviation and it's also making no secret of the fact that it wants to do a better job telling its story – a story that has a lot of positive elements in the narrative, reports Bob Mowat in this week's digital edition of Travel Courier. “We have a global brand. We have a network or fleet that can touch anywhere on the planet,” Duncan Bureau, VP global sales for Air Canada told Travel Courier. “And we believe that with this 787 fleet it certainly is a game changer. And we believe that we...
Rule Fix Victory
According to ASTA, the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) is to be applauded for taking a common sense approach to the way travel sellers communicate information about hazardous materials to the flying public. The industry association pointed out that in the Hazardous Materials Harmonization Rulemaking that was published in the Federal Register on Aug. 25, PHMSA had proposed revising its hazardous materials rule [49 CFR 175.25(b)] for telephone and in-person reservations that requires travel sellers, effective Jan. 1,...
Opportunity Knocks
In this week's digital edition of Canadian Travel Press, executive editor, Bob Mowat reports that Duncan Bureau made it abundantly clear that Air Canada is no longer willing to give up business in areas where, in the past, it has done just that. Bureau, AC's vice-president, global sales, said bluntly, “I think we've conceded business in areas where, quite frankly, we're not prepared to do that any more. So we are going to be aggressive. We are going to win back the hearts and minds of our customers and our partners and our employees.” Asked for an example, Bureau told Canadian...