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 Read more
Canada
Lynx Air today (March 13) announced the addition of Fredericton to its network from June 12, 2023, offering affordable links between New Brunswick, Ontario and Alberta. Canada’s new ultra-affordable airline will offer three services a week between New Brunswick’s most central airport, Fredericton International Airport (YFC) and both Calgary International Airport (YYC) and Toronto Pearson International (YYZ). The Fredericton – Calgary service will operate as a “through flight” via Toronto Pearson, providing a seamless service with a single boarding pass and the ability to check bags through to the final destination. I was in Fredericton a few years ago and Read more
Flair Airlines say four of its planes are “not operational” after “extreme and unusual” actions by a U.S.-based lessor to seize the aircrafts amid a commercial dispute. Global News says it received an emailed statement on March 11 from a spokesperson for Flair Airlines who said a “commercial dispute” with a New York-based hedge fund and lessor had affected four of its planes. “Flair Airlines is aware of extreme and unusual actions taken by a New York-based hedge fund and lessor of certain Flair Airlines aircraft,” the spokesperson said. “The airline is aggrieved by this unprecedented action.” The CBC quoted an airline Read more
The March Break school vacation period begins today in Ontario and elsewhere in Canada, and airports will likely be a mess. The Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA), operator of Toronto Pearson, held a media day today to provide travel tips for passengers ahead of March Break. March Break has always been one of the busiest times at Pearson, and this year the GTAA expects up to 125,000 passengers per day during the peak travel weekend, starting today. This represents approximately 85% of pre-pandemic volume seen during March Break 2019. (It certainly doesn’t help that Toronto is expecting a Read more
WestJet’s controversial takeover of Sunwing is set to be approved today by the Trudeau government. WestJet also has been given federal licenses for flights to Hong Kong, the Philippines, Singapore and Malaysia. The Globe and Mail this morning (March 10) reported that the announcement will be made today, providing WestJet with a huge increase in its share of the packaged vacation business. Calgary-based WestJet and Toronto-based Sunwing announced the proposed merger in March, 2022. The federal Competition Bureau later stated that the takeover would lead to fewer choices for Canadian travellers, and higher prices. The Globe story said the Trudeau Read more
