WestJet says leisure travel is at or above 2019 levels, and that small-to-medium sized companies are back to flying for business. Speaking to OpenJaw.com, Chuck Crowder, WestJet’s Vice President Sales and Distribution, said Canadians flocked to Europe this summer and that leisure/vacation travel was at or above 2019 levels for the Calgary-based company. “Travel is back in Canada,” he said. Crowder said large, multi-national companies haven’t fully returned to the market, but that small and medium-sized companies are booking business travel at rates similar, or even exceeding, 2019 levels. Crowder said Canadians who want to book winter packages with WestJet Read more
Canada
The Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) today announced that the Regulations Amending the Air Passenger Protection Regulations, which provide additional refund requirements, are now in force. But one transportation expert says the new rules are only a “slight improvement.” Until now, the Air Passenger Protection Regulations only required refunds to be provided for flight disruptions within the control of airlines. The new requirements now require airlines to provide passengers with either a refund or rebooking, at the passenger’s choice, when there is a flight cancellation, or a lengthy delay, due to a situation outside the airline’s control that prevents it from Read more
Montreal-based Air Transat said it posted its first profitable month in two years this summer, and that it expects to match pre-pandemic traffic levels this coming winter. Transat A.T. today (September 8) released its third quarter financial results. The airline and travel company posted revenues of $4508.3 million and reported an adjusted operating loss of $57.8 million. “The recovery emerging at the end of the last quarter has been confirmed in recent months. With our prudent planning and our teams’ exceptionally high quality execution, we were able to deploy virtually all of our programs, with continuously improving load factors,” said Read more
Canadians have more ways to fly to sun destinations this winter. My travel notebook for today also looks at how the Toronto International Film Festival might impact the city’s tourism, how Canadian airports are faring with delays, and more mixed news about world business travel recovery. SWOOP ADDS MORE SUN Swoop, which bills itself as Canada’s leading ultra-low-cost airline, today announced that it’s expanding its winter sun-flying offering from John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport with new non-stop service to Fort Lauderdale and Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. Swoop will begin its ultra-affordable flying to Fort Lauderdale on December Read more
Here’s a lazy Sunday Labour Day compendium of a few stories I found on the old Internet this morning about new world hotels, travel products for people with small children, Caribbean visits and more, plus a note about Toronto Pearson delays. First off, I’ve been tracking delays at Toronto Pearson Airport the past few days, and things aren’t a whole lot better. According to Flight Aware, here are the outgoing flight delay stats for the past few days. September 1: 205 delays (15 minutes or more), which is 33% of all outbound flights. September 2: 200 delays (34%) September 3: Read more
