Airlines
UNITED ‘FLYER-FRIENDLY’
United Airlines has debuted a new brand campaign, featuring the iconic “Fly the Friendly Skies” tagline, reinterpreted for today’s travellers. The new campaign, United’s biggest in more than a decade, is based on feedback from customers that “user-friendly” today means the combination of service, technology and product enhancements. United has designed its investments in its global route network, new aircraft, onboard features, customer service and digital channels to be “flyer-friendly.” The new television commercials and print ads are available at...
DARWIN ADDS ROUTES
Darwin Airline and Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport have announced new routes operated by the Swiss carrier from Amsterdam to Leipzig/Halle, Germany, and Cambridge, England. The Amsterdam-Cambridge route sees Darwin Airline offer 24 weekly flights between the cities, using Saab 2000 turbo propeller planes with 50 seats. The distance between aircraft seats is 81 cm. The promotional fare starts at €186 p.p, round trip. For the Amsterdam—Leipzig route the company has 24 weekly flights as well, with an inauguration fare starting at €193 p.p., round trip. Darwin Airline also serves...
CANADIAN CARRIERS FACING TURBULENCE
A growing reluctance by consumers to spend on air travel means Canadian air carriers are facing declines in both industry profits and profit margins this year, according to The Conference Board of Canada’s Industrial Outlook: Canada’s Air Transportation Industry-Summer 2013. “The industry is going through a period of slow growth in passengers, a direct result of a slowdown in consumer spending. That said, revenues will still grow by 5% this year, thanks largely to fare increases,” said economist Kristelle Audet (pictured). Airfares are expected to grow by 3.6% in 2013, but...
AIR CANADA EXECUTIVE REALIGNMENT
Air Canada has announced the appointment of Kevin Howlett (pictured, left in photo), currently senior vice-president, Employee Relations, to the new position of senior vice-president, Regional Markets with overall responsibility for the strategic direction of Air Canada’s regional operations and the relationship with current and future regional carriers operating on its behalf. “I am pleased to announce Kevin’s appointment to this new role,” said Air Canada president Calin Rovinescu (right in photo). “His proven strategic and relationship management skills as well as his...
LOT CRAZY FARE SALE
LOT Polish Airlines has launched a three-day “Crazy” sale on its fares to Warsaw from Toronto, as well as Crazy fares within Europe. The Crazy Days sale is scheduled on Sept. 18, 19 and 20 for travel Oct. 1 through March 31, 2014. From Toronto to Warsaw, the roundtrip economy fare including taxes and fees is $899, a savings of up to 33%. This sale fare is non-refundable and non-changeable and requires a minimum Sunday/three-day stay. Maximum stay is one month. ...
COMPUTER GLITCH CANCELS PORTER FLIGHTS
Porter Airlines reports that its online services are returning after a computer network glitch caused dozens of delayed flights and cancellations yesterday. Porter’s web site and call centre, as well as passenger check-in, were affected Tuesday evening. Some 40 departures and arrivals were either cancelled or delayed. Porter blamed the problems on outages affecting its system provider. Navitaire handles bookings for a number of smallish carriers around the world. Several others using it are experiencing problems. Porter said late last night that its services were coming back online. However...
SIX WAYS TO OZ WITH ANZ
Air New Zealand and Tourism Australia have launched a million dollar partnership encouraging North Americans to tick Australia off their \"to do\" list. The two partners are making easy to do by offering one low fare to six of Air New Zealand\'s Australia gateways -- Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Cairns, Adelaide and Coolangatta (the Gold Coast.) The campaign will be heavily promoted across multiple digital channels, including a TripAdvisor destination page, and runs from through Oct. 27. The promotion, which also features partnership with blogger community, Go Mighty, highlights the \"only...
TAKING THE LEAD SUSTAINABLY
For the ninth consecutive year, the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) -- the main international index evaluating companies on their performance in terms of sustainable development -- has ranked Air France-KLM leader of the \"Airlines\" industry. And for the fifth year running, Air France-KLM has been ranked leader of the broader \"Transport\" category, covering air, rail, sea and road transport as well as airport activities. Frederic Gagey, chairman and CEO of Air France, said: \"Committed to a comprehensive transformation plan to restore our competitiveness, we intend to continue our...