WestJet says it will shift resources to concentrate on Western Canada, and also is scaling back its Dreamliner plans in order to focus on narrowbody planes. WestJet this week brought together leaders, representing all parts of the operations and business, to hear directly from Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Alexis von Hoensbroech, as he shared plans for growth into the COVID recovery, and the airline’s commitment to embracing its cost-conscious roots in service of affordable air travel for Canadians. “The immediate priority is to ensure we are ready for the high volume of pent-up travel demand this summer,” said Alexis von Read more
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Transat lost money in the second quarter, but revenues climbed sharply as travel rebounded around the world. Transat A.T. inc., the parent company for Air Transat, today reported an adjusted second quarter loss of $51 million. But it said revenues were up $358 million, and that it’s bullish about the rest of the year. “When the effect of Omicron subsided at the end of February, operations and sales rebounded strongly, allowing us to end the quarter on a very encouraging note and generate revenues of $358 million for the period. We foresee a strong recovery and will continue to implement Read more
Tourism is rebounding strongly in cities across Canada. But most tourism officials say they’re not quite back to pre-pandemic levels, and that labour shortages could limit their ability to recover as quickly as they’d like. A review of tourism officials in several major Canadian cities, including Vancouver, Montreal and Calgary, finds municipal leaders are generally in a positive mood as Tourism Week in Canada kicks off. “Right now … the occupancy is strong,” said Karen Soyka, Vice President, Strategy & Business Development at Destination Vancouver. “What we have (for figures) is really up to March, and what we’re seeing is Read more
Flair Airlines has been making a ton of noise in the Canadian travel marketplace. We should find out tomorrow if that’s going to continue. Officials from the Edmonton-based airline on Wednesday (June 1) are expected to announce the results of a Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) investigation on whether it may continue to fly in Canada. The Canadian government has been looking into allegations that Flair didn’t meet the conditions to qualify as being Canadian owned. Ottawa says at least 51 per cent of a company’s voting interests must be owned and controlled by Canadians and no more than 25 per cent Read more
A top Air Canada executive says business travel in Canada could reach pre-2019 levels by the end of this year. There’s also encouraging news about a Canadian leisure travel rebound. In an interview with Reuters, Air Canada Chief Commercial Officer Lucie Guillemette said Canada could even be close to pre-pandemic business travel numbers by Labour Day. “We’re actually very encouraged,” she said this week. “We’re certainly not close to 2019 levels yet, but we are thinking, based on what we’re seeing, most probably by the time we hit Labour Day, or get into 2023 it should be quite close.” That’s Read more
