Air Canada today announced the strategic expansion of its international network for summer 2023, with the addition of new European services to Brussels, Toulouse and Copenhagen. It is also resuming key Asia services to Tokyo-Haneda and Osaka, and is restoring frequencies to leading destinations in the Atlantic, Pacific and South America regions. “We continue to pursue our disciplined approach of expanding our global network in response to anticipated demand. We are especially pleased to be adding three new strategic routes to Europe, resuming important services to Japan, and increasing frequencies to key international destinations for summer 2023,” said Mark Galardo, Read more
Europe
India Top Destination for Canadians for Thanksgiving; WestJet Launches First Asian Airline Codeshare
With Canadian borders having fully opened October 1, Canadians are eager to travel the world. And the top destination for Thanksgiving weekend is New Delhi, India. “This year, we’re seeing more than half of travel will be international for Thanksgiving from Canada, that’s a big shift from where we were a couple of years ago,” said Laura Lindsay, head of consumer communications and public relations at Skyscanner. “New Delhi is the top destination for Canadians over Thanksgiving. “Obviously, it’s a time that people [tend to] choose to reconnect with friends and family, or take that extra piece of time off Read more
Conde Nast Travel has put out its annual list of top cities, islands, airlines and hotels, and both my home state and adopted country did well. Hawai’i, which is like home to me, also put on a strong performance, as did Florida. The magazine today listed Victoria as the number two small city in the world, while Montreal (10) and Quebec City (5) were named among the top ten best big cities on the planet. Chicago was first for big U.S. cities, followed by Honolulu and San Diego. San Francisco was seventh for big U.S. cities, and New York City Read more
A top union official is warning that there could be “significant delays” at Canada border points if travel picks up dramatically in the wake of travel restrictions being eased. Mark Weber, national president of the Customs and Immigration Union, said border agents are already slammed, and that a signiicant increase in travel will make things worse. The Canadian government announced on Monday that travel restrictions will be lifted on Saturday, October 1. That means an end to mandatory vaccinations for coming into Canada, no quarantine for sick visitors and no random testing. The controversial ArriveCAN app also will become optional Read more
Be prepared to pay more for the privilege of travel this winter. Experts say that while airfares have so far remained steady, experts predict a price spike for fall and winter flights as demand returns. Canadian Press reported earlier this week that experts feel demand could rise further if remaining COVID-19 restrictions such as vaccine mandates are lifted, encouraging travellers who were previously hesitant to fly due to the restrictions. “No doubt,” said Martin Firestone, president of insurance provider Travel Secure Inc. “My gut tells me with the removal of restrictions, more people than ever will travel.” Firestone told me Read more
