Airlines
Air France Increases Summer Service
On May 12, Air France will be adding a third daily flight out of Montreal on Mondays, Fridays and Sundays to up its weekly schedule by three extra flights. This means that for the periods of May 12-31 and Sept. 30 to Oct. 12, travellers will be able to avail themselves of 1,400 additional seats a week. Also, Air France’s trademark summer schedule addition of a third daily flight between Montreal-Trudeau and Paris-Charles de Gaulle will begin June 1 and run until Sept. 29. With 21 weekly flights, Montreal is second only to New York City worldwide in terms of most seats offered...
Back In A Big Way
Let the celebration begin because Japan is back and it's back in in a big way. After the devastating tsunami and subsequent nuclear reactor crisis that scared tourists away in 2011, Japan has made a remarkable recovery and last year it welcomed a record 10,364,000 foreign visitors -- that's a staggering 124% increase over 2012, according to City of Tokyo Tourism officials. The Canadian market was part of that visitor resurgence posting an impressive 24% increase, with 152,000 Canadians travelling to Japan. And clearly tourism officials are confident that they'll see further increases...
Happy Birthday!
South African Airways (SAA) is celebrating its 80th year of service. Founded in 1934, the carrier marked its anniversary this month (February). Over its eight decades of operation, SAA has faced many changes over and experienced many highlights and some turbulent times. Through the years, SAA, and its employees have shown extraordinary resilience and capacity for change. Today, SAA is a modern, technologically advanced airline that flies millions of people every year. SAA has been an award winning airline over the years and recently received, for the 12th consecutive year in a row...
Flight Alerts
Sunwing Airlines has added a SMS (text message) alert function to its online flight reservation system. Conveniently located on the homepage of Sunwing.ca, travellers can sign up to receive updates on their flight status via text message. “We know that our customer’s journey to the airport sometimes consists of a long drive or stopover hotel,” said Mark Williams, president, Sunwing Airlines. “We feel that the convenience of flight alerts received right to their mobile device will represent a lot of value to our customers, who can now stay informed throughout their...
Strengthening Connections
Both Air Canada and the Tourism Industry Association of Canada (TIAC) are welcoming the signing of an expanded Canada-Mexico Air Transport agreement. Derek Vanstone, vice-president of corporate strategy, industry and government affairs at Air Canada, said of the new deal that: "Mexico is an important market for Air Canada and this expanded agreement will further strengthen air linkages between Canada and our NAFTA partner. Among other things it provides an open framework for direct flights, introduces more commercial flexibility and contains provisions for safety and security." And...
Deal Us In
International Airlines Group (IAG) has renewed its multi-year, full content agreements for British Airways and Iberia with Travelport. The agreements, which take place with immediate effect, give Travelport-connected travel agents worldwide access to published fares and inventory on all British Airways, Iberia and Iberia Express flights. In addition the airlines will continue to work with Travelport to add ancillary content. Both airlines are also working with Travelport to trial its Rich Content and Branding technology, a component of the Travelport Merchandising Platform. The...
More, More, More
Air Canada rouge has started non-stop service between Montreal and Orlando, offering two daily departures from Montreal. The service is year round and represents a 30% capacity increase this summer compared to Air Canada service last year. With the launch of the increased Montreal service, there's now more Air Canada/Air Canada rouge non-stop service between Canada and Orlando than any other carrier, with Air Canada flights from Halifax and Ottawa and Air Canada rouge flights from Toronto and Montreal. Air Canada rouge offers convenient morning departures daily for those customers...
A Definite Cachet
In this week's edition of Travel Courier, Ian Stalker reports that Icelandair will be adding an additional flight from Edmonton this summer, with the carrier noting the move comes as a result of "high demand." The new flight will operate on Tuesdays, and with the additional departure, Icelandair now offers flights up to five days a week with non-stop service to Iceland and connections to more than 20 destinations in Europe. Earlier this year, Icelandair previously announced an early launch date of March 5 and increased the seasonal flight schedule to year-round service from...