Good News For Road Warriors

Air Canada’s spectacular offshore route expansion, coupled with increased competition from WestJet on the domestic front, will combine to keep the lid on air fare increases next year.

That’s the good news for road warriors contained in the 2017 Global Business Travel Forecast just released by American Express Global Business Travel, reports Montreal editor, Mike Dunbar in this week’s digital edition of Canadian Travel Press..

The forecast authors explained:

“Aggressive capacity growth by Air Canada has led to a significant deterioration in revenue per available seat mile and load factor. While capacity growth in 2017 will be lower than in 2016, it is likely to remain above demand growth, putting continued downward pressure on business fares.”

And they added:

“Domestic competition and economic weakness in Alberta will continue to put pressure on demand and lead to decreasing short-haul business fares in that part of the country.”

In fact, they point out, competition remains fierce as WestJet continues to expand its regional subsidiary Encore into areas previously monopolized by Air Canada, so fare reductions of up to 5% are expected.

On the transborder front the forecasters point out that the stronger greenback has made the US a more expensive destination for Canadians and is causing demand for cross-border flights to drop accordingly.

Thus, fares are expected to decrease further next year – dipping between 2% and 5%.

For the full story, check out this week digital edition of Canadian Travel Press by clicking here.