Canadian searches for international flights are outweighing those for domestic trips, but flights within Canada remain very popular, a new study says. Kayak.com looked at flight searches for the week of April 10 and compared them three years ago, prior to the pandemic, and then to a month ago.  For three year comparisons, they found Dubai led the way, with searches up 105% since April of 2019. Next was Halifax at 97%, followed by Istanbul at 90%. For month-over-month comparisons, searches for flights to Frankfurt were on top, with a gain of 17% from March to April of this year. Read more

Air Transat is pleased to be back in Dublin, after over two years of forced suspension due to COVID-19. The airline operated its first flight between Toronto and Dublin (TS230) yesterday evening, which will be offered five times a week at the height of the season. Until the end of October, the airline will operate these flights with its new-generation Airbus A321neoLR aircraft. As of March 6, all COVID-19 travel restrictions were removed for travelling to the Republic of Ireland. Visitors no longer need to complete a passenger locator form to travel, nor do they need proof of vaccination or Read more

So, this is fun. The folks at Passport Photo Online have come up with a survey that shows the things we find most annoying about travel. The company surveyed Americans about their pet peeves when it comes to travel and found there’s a mix of old and new concerns, including seat kickers, flight delays and constantly shifting travel requirements. A full two-thirds of respondents (67%) said that constantly changing travel restrictions are somewhat annoying, annoying or very annoying. Interestingly enough, however, only 18% of said COVID-19 testing requirements are very annoying. Another 48% said they find the rules annoying or Read more

Lynx Air will launch its inaugural Toronto-Calgary flight from Toronto Pearson International Airport today.  Canada’s new ultra-affordable airline will initially operate four services a week between Toronto and Calgary, increasing to daily services as of April 18. Toronto Pearson Airport will quickly become a busy hub for Lynx, with the addition of daily service between Toronto and Vancouver on April 28 and a twice weekly service from Toronto to Winnipeg on May 5.  All services will be operated out of Toronto Pearson Airport’s Terminal 1.  By summer, travelers in the Toronto region will be able to fly out of John Read more

After a two-year pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the first cruise ship has arrived in Victoria. CHEK reports Holland America’s Koningsdam ship arrived shortly after 10 a.m. local time at Ogden Point in Victoria, B.C. on Saturday with 1,200 passengers on board. It’s the first cruise ship to dock in Canadian waters in more than two years. “We know that cruise ship passengers enjoy everything our communities have to offer, helping support thousands of jobs in the maritime, tourism, hospitality, and agricultural sectors across the province,” Rob Fleming, B.C.’s minister of transportation and infrastructure, said in a release from Read more

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