If you’re a Canadian and you can’t find your friends or neighbors this week, look south.
American Express says there’s “high demand” for international travel this March Break, and that Canadians seem to have headed south. Again.
The company says the top five international destinations for Amex Cardmembers this March Break are:
- Florida
- London
- New York
- Los Angeles
- Las Vegas
Yahoo Canada says Amex Trendex data found that 53 per cent of Canadians plan on spending more on travel this year, compared to 2022.
The website also quotes Skyscanner as saying the top five destinations for Canadian travellers between March 11 and 19 are New Delhi, Vancouver, Cancun, Calgary and Toronto.
KAYAK says demand for March Break family travel is topping the charts in major cities across the country, with demand in Calgary up over 100 per cent (122% YoY), followed closely by Vancouver (up 75% YoY) and Toronto (up 50% YoY) compared to the same time last year.
KAYAK says passengers flying out of Toronto were looking for Europe, Florida and Caribbean trips for the school break, while Vancouverites were eyeing trips to the western U.S., Mexico and Hawai’i.
London, England. Eva Dang/Unsplash Photo
Here are the top trending destinations for Toronto (left column) and Vancouver. Note that, despite ongoing violence in some areas of Mexico, Canadians are still travelling to popular Mexican tourist areas.
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I posted a story last week with some last-minute March Break or Spring Break destinations in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina.
Terminal One baggage claim, Toronto Pearson Airport. JIM BYERS PHOTO
FEDS PROMISE STRONGER AIR PASSENGER PROTECTION RULES
Ottawa says it’s making major investments that will better protect Canadian airline passengers.
Transport Minister Omar Alghabra today announced $75.9 million in additional funding to ensure the Canadian Transportation Agency has the resources to address passenger rights complaints, and strengthen the operation of the federal transportation network. The minister said the funding, to be delivered over three years, will help the agency efficiently deliver on its mandate for Canadians, in part by allowing it to hire more employees to deal with a backlog of complaints.
CTV News earlier this year reported the CTA is dealing with a backlog of more than 36,000 complaints, and that consumers were facing wait times of up to 18 months for a decision. Alghabra today said the backlog was up to 42,000 last time he checked.
Under the Air Passenger Protection Regulations, Canadians are entitled to receive up to $1,000 in compensation for delays and cancellations, depending on the size of the airline and the length of the delay, as long as the delay was within the airlines’ control and not related to safety, CTV stated.
Alghabra today said complaints need to be answered as quickly as possible.
“With today’s announcement, we will ensure that the CTA has the resources to clear backlogs, address complaints and that travellers quickly get the money they are entitled to,” he said.
“Travellers have rights, and these rights must be respected by airlines,” Alghabra said. “When airlines do not provide the reimbursement or compensation to which travellers are entitled, the Canadian Transportation Agency is there to ensure passenger rights are respected.”
In 2019, for the first time in Canadian history, an air passenger rights regime, called the Air Passenger Protection Regulations (APPR), was implemented to clarify minimum requirements and compensation based on whether an airline has control over the disruption or not. During the pandemic, the government strengthened these rights to include refunds for situations outside the airline’s control, including major weather events or a pandemic.
The funding announced today will help strengthen passenger rights by giving the Agency additional resources to carry out its mandate and reduce the backlog of existing complaints.
The Government of Canada says it’s also working on significant reforms to the Air Passenger Protection Regulations to ensure passenger rights are even more protected.
“These changes will place Canada at the forefront of passenger protections globally and, together with other steps to be taken, will help prevent the frustrating passenger experiences of last summer and over the holiday season,” officials said.
Toronto Pearson Airport. JIM BYERS PHOTO
TORONTO PEARSON BROADENS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE PROGRAM
The Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA) is today announcing that it is partnering with Assaia to help enable smoother, faster and more predictable operations through the deployment of Assaia ApronAI at all of Toronto Pearson International Airport’s 106 gates.
Assaia provides an artificial intelligence solution to track every aspect of aircraft turnaround performance—physically preparing an aircraft when it lands until it takes off again for a new flight. By monitoring what is happening around the aircraft in real time, the data will be used to highlight and address inefficiencies, and to provide accurate estimates of timeliness to increase gate availability, improve on-time performance and be more transparent with passengers.
“We’re creating the airport of the future, and innovation in apron operations will directly improve the passenger experience,” said Deborah Flint, President and CEO of the GTAA. “We’re pleased for the potential industry-wide transformation that may result from these new technologies. We are laser focused on innovations that will make Pearson and its whole apron ecosystem more efficient while reducing our carbon footprint.”
The integration of this technology is another step towards digitization for Toronto Pearson. Assaia has monitored over 1.5 million flights and observed over 3 million turnaround events while working with Seattle-Tacoma Airport, Halifax Stanfield Airport, British Airways, London Gatwick and more.
MONTREAL GETS NEW AQUARIUM NEXT YEAR
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