Airlines
Germany In The Spotlight
In this week's edition of Travel Courier, Ian Stalker reports that the German National Tourist Office has chosen a Canadian director who was well familiar with this country even before her current posting. And Antje Splettstoesser notes her taking on the job comes on the eve of Lufthansa preparing yet another Canadian route, making her homeland even more accessible for many Canadians. Splettstoesser's been in this country for five years, first working for the Toronto-based German Canadian Chamber of Industry and Commerce, after which she worked for a company involved in inbound travel,...
Porter to Charge for Checked Baggage
Effective May 14, Porter Airlines will charge $25 for the first bag checked and $35 for a second bag on all Canadian flights booked as of April 21. The same fees have been in place on US routes for some time. The fees are waived for those booking the highest Freedom fare class. Porter’s Brad Cicero noted the weight allowance for checked bags was increased last year, allowing passengers to carry more overall. “We are trying to provide a balance between allowing passengers to carry more baggage and doing so in a way that allows Porter to remain competitive with airlines who...
WestJet Flies a Record 1.6 Million Guests
WestJet has announced April 2014 traffic results with a load factor of 82.3%. Revenue passenger miles (RPMs), or traffic, increased 6.5% year-over-year, and capacity, measured in available seat miles (ASMs), grew 7.1% over the same period. The airline flew 1.6 million guests in April, a year-over-year increase of 7.7% or approximately 116,000 additional guests. “We are pleased with our continued strong growth in traffic as we welcomed a record number of guests in April into our network,” said WestJet president Gregg...
Bad, Bad, Bad, Bad
Air Canada commented on the proposed increase in aviation excise fuel taxes in the Ontario budget, as well as the decision by Ontario Opposition parties to defeat the government's proposed budget. Calin Rovinescu, president and CEO of Air Canada, said: "As one of the largest private sector employers in the province of Ontario, I can say that the proposed increase to aviation fuel taxes is bad for our industry, bad for our employees, bad for our customers and ultimately bad for the economy of Ontario." Rovinescu argued that: "Ontario will continue to lose business to U.S. border...
Sunquest Adds Seven
Sunquest has added 7 new routes for the winter 2014-2015 season and all of them are now available in its system and ready to book for travel starting November 2014 onwards. Among these new routes is a brand new service out of Fort McMurray, Alberta, along with expanded service out of existing gateways. Here is the full list of new routes, frequency of service and airline: Fort McMurray to Las Vegas (daily -- WestJet/Air Canada) Regina to Montego Bay (daily -- WestJet/Air Canada) Saskatoon to Montego Bay (daily -- WestJet/Air Canada) Quebec City to Punta Cana (daily --...
Shock And Disappointment
IATA expressed shock and disappointment over the Ontario government's proposal to more than double the province's aviation fuel tax. That tax already costs Ontario travellers and shippers over $60 million annually. When fully implemented, the increase from 2.7 cents per litre to 6.7 cents per litre will add more than C$100 million per year to the cost of air transport in the province. Tony Tyler, IATA director general and CEO, said: "At a time when the government is proposing to spend some $2.5 billion to attract businesses to Ontario, why make air connectivity more expensive?...
Lufthansa Ready For The Future
Christoph Franz is stepping down as the CEO and chairman of the Executive Board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG, but he's leaving the post as the carrier posts an operating profit of EUR 697m in the books for 2013. Adjusted for non-recurring items from the realignment of several corporate divisions, profit totals more than EUR 1bn. Compared with the adjusted prior-year figure, the operating profit for 2013 increased by 62%. The Group managed to achieve stable revenue of EUR 30.0bn despite a lower number of flights. Net profit for the Group was EUR 313m. All of the business segments were...
Fears For Tiers
Close to one-third (32%) of U.S. and Canadian consumers can't identify which tier they belong to in their favourite loyalty rewards programs, according to a newly released study by COLLOQUY. The stunning lack of awareness of basic tier status is a key finding in "Fears for Tiers: 2014 COLLOQUY Study on Membership Status In Loyalty Programs." Study findings are based on a February 2014 survey of 3,077 U.S. and Canadian consumers. COLLOQUY's research reveals that the familiar gold, silver and bronze tier system no longer works; showing that the three-tiered structure is outdated as a...