Forbes has a great item today about what countries in Europe are open for visitors. I’ve also got items on the resumption of cruise ship travel in Canada, passengers behaving badly, the resumption of Transat flights to Italy, a nice story on Ottawa and news about suspended flights between Vancouver and India. WHAT COUNTRIES ARE OPEN IN EUROPE Many European Union countries, including the UK and Ireland, have entirely done away with COVID-19 travel restrictions for non-EU travelers. Others, however, still have restrictions in place. Continue reading the Forbes story here. AND WHAT’S OPEN IN THE CARIBBEAN, TOO Travelweek has Read more

Air Transat has announced the gradual resumption of its operations to France, starting today with the departure of its first direct flight from Montreal to Marseille. From Brittany to Provence, Aquitaine and Auvergne, six destinations will be available once more to Quebec travellers in the coming weeks. In addition to gradually increasing flight frequency between Montreal and the City of Light, the airline will soon be relaunching its service to Paris from Toronto and Quebec City. “We are very pleased to resume our flights to France’s regions. These routes—most of which we operate exclusively—have been an integral part of our Read more

Lynx Air, Canada’s new ultra-affordable airline, took to the skies today, with its inaugural flight from Calgary to Vancouver.  Lynx operates a fleet of three brand-new Boeing 737 aircraft and will ramp up quickly over the coming weeks. The airline’s next destination will be to Toronto, with its inaugural Calgary-Toronto flight taking off on Monday April 11.  It will add Kelowna to its network starting April 15, Winnipeg starting April 19 and Victoria starting May 12.  The airline will add two more aircraft to its fleet in the coming months, allowing it to further expand its network in the lead Read more

Canadian hotels are in the beginning of a “dramatic turnaround,” says Don Cleary, the president of Marriott Hotels Canada. I sat down with Cleary at the Ritz Carlton hotel in downtown Toronto today to talk about everything from the travel rebound to hotel renovations and labour shortages. We’re not back to early 2019 times just yet, but he says there’s definitely progress being made. “We’re beginning to see some encouraging signs,” Cleary said. “We are not out of the woods at all, but the last three to four weeks have been a dramatic turnaround. It’s like a light switch was Read more

Flair Airlines, Canada’s everyday low fare airline, begins service to New York City today, with the inaugural flight to John F. Kennedy International Airport from Toronto Pearson International Airport. The non-stop service is part of Flair’s expansion into the U.S. The non-stop flight will connect Canadians to New York City twice weekly, before increasing to three times weekly in May. “At Flair, we’re all about connecting people, affordably. This new destination is an exciting and important step forward for us as we continue to expand into the U.S.,” said Garth Lund, Chief Commercial Officer. “We’re thrilled to connect Canadians to Read more

Canada Jetlines, the new, “all-Canadian leisure carrier,” announced today that it will begin operations out of Toronto Pearson International Airport. They have a targeted start date in the summer of 2022.  Canada Jetlines will operate out of the airport with a fleet of airbus family aircraft, starting with the A320. Canada Jetlines will operate to international destinations throughout the U.S., Mexico, Caribbean, and domestic cities in Canada. Charter Operations are targetted to commence in the summer of 2022. “This is an exciting day for Canada Jetlines as we name Toronto Pearson as our primary travel hub, in preparation for summer Read more