Airlines
PORTER ADDS: e-ticketing for agents
Porter Airlines now has e-ticketing for travel agencies. Initially electronic ticketing will be available to Sabre GDS travel agencies in North America through ARC and BSP. Amadeus and Travelport compatibility will follow later this year. Porter will continue to process reservations on both an Instant Purchase and E-ticket basis. Agency partners will now have a choice of maintaining their instant purchase approach or converting to E-Ticketing. Commission payment for E-Tickets on Porter will continue to be paid directly to the agency on flown volume and not at point of sale (POS) via ARC or...
LET’S PLAY: AF, WestJet launch contest
To celebrate their new code-share, Air France and WestJet have launched "Fly from Canada on Air France" contest for travel agents across Canada. The prize consists of two economy class tickets to the winner's European destination of choice from the nearest Canadian airport among those recently added through the partnership of the two airlines. The contest invites Canadian travel agents to play an online game to identify on a map the new Canadian cities offered in the Air France-WestJet code-share agreement that was launched on March 12. The contest can be entered until April 21, 2013 (23:59...
CHECK-IN EARLY: AC modifies deadline
Air Canada is reminding travellers that starting April 10, 2013 the domestic cut off check-in and baggage drop off deadline (latest time after which customers can no longer check in or drop off their baggage) will be increased from 30 minutes to 45 minutes before flight departure. The revised minimum domestic cut-off deadline applies to all Air Canada and Air Canada Express flights within Canada, with the exception of flights leaving Toronto Billy Bishop Airport (YTZ) which remains at 20 minutes. With these changes, minimum domestic check-in and baggage drop off deadlines will now be more...
SETTLEMENT REACHED: AA, Orbitz sign deal
American Airlines and Orbitz have reached an agreement to resolve all litigation between them. The settlement requires review and approval by the court presiding over AMR Corporation's restructuring. At this time, neither company will have further comment. For more, go to http://www.aa.com or http://www.orbitz.com...
ETIHAD CEO: Alliances have outlived their usefulness
Legacy airline alliances have outlived their usefulness, according to Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways' president and chief executive officer, James Hogan, who delivered a keynote speech last week at the International Aviation Club in Washington, D.C. Hogan said Etihad Airways' unique business model, which is a combination of organic growth, codeshares and minority equity investments, was proving very effective in building passenger numbers, revenue and profit for all its partners. "The traditional airline alliances have evolved into slow-to-respond, bureaucratic organizations which struggle to...
TRANSAT: Set to internalize medium-haul operations
Transat A.T. Inc. will add Boeing B737 narrow-body jets to Air Transat's fleet, which currently comprises Airbus A310 and A330 wide-body aircraft, beginning in 2014. In doing so, the company will internalize its medium-haul operations outbound from Canada to sun destinations in Mexico, the Caribbean and Florida, for which it has relied on a third-party partner since 2003. Some of the new aircraft will be permanently attached to the fleet. In winter, when demand on sun destination routes is higher, additional aircraft will be introduced on a seasonal basis. Eventually, Transat plans to operate...
AIR FRANCE, KLM: Business class specials available
Air France has a new offer that will entice travellers to try and little luxury and fly Business class on their next flight out of Canada. As part of a promotion for flights out of Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa to numerous destinations in its worldwide network, Air France is offering Business class fares from $2,499, taxes and surcharges included. The special runs until April 14 and applies to departures between May 1 and Sept. 1, and includes one free stopover in Paris. France, Spain and Casablanca are being offered starting at $2,499. Other destinations include Bucharest, Dublin and Moscow...
CONFIDENCE RISING: Passenger growth accelerates
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced global passenger traffic results for February show that demand growth is accelerating on the back of stronger business confidence, particularly in emerging regions. Passenger demand rose 3.7% compared to February 2012. The 3.7% growth masks improvements in recent months. October 2012 appears to have been a turning point for air travel markets. Since October, passenger demand has been growing at an annualized rate of 9%. This is almost double the growth trend over the first 9 months of 2012. "February's performance was good news....