The pandemic has been anything but kind to Canada’s hotel industry. But a senior official at Canada’s Germain Hotels says they’re going to be okay. “One thing for sure is we’re out of the woods,” Marie Pier Germain, vice president sales and marketing for Germain Hotels, told me in a recent Zoom chat. “The company is going to be okay.” Germain said the company has kept communication lines open with its investors during the pandemic But it’s not been easy. And it hasn’t been a straight line. “Everything we’re used to relying on to forecast budget is gone,” she said. Read more
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Flair Airlines, a Canadian ultra-low-cost airline, continues its rapid growth with the announcement today that it intends to lease 14 additional Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft. The ultra low-cost carrier’s fleet will grow to 30 aircraft by mid-2023. The Edmonton-based airline has 12 aircraft in service and will have 20 aircraft in service by summer 2022. Additional aircraft will arrive in 2023 as Flair more than doubles its current fleet size as part of the airline’s vision to have a fleet of 50 aircraft by 2025. “We’re on a mission to deliver low fares to Canadians and flying a state-of-the-art Read more
Transat A.T., the parent company of Air Transat, is reporting substantially better numbers in its fourth quarter fiscal statement. The company today reported an operating loss of $118.3 for its fiscal fourth quarter, which ended Oct. 31, 2021. That loss is down substantially from last year’s figure of $239.3 million. Fourth quarter Transat revenue was reported at $62.8 million, up 120.9% from the $28.4 million in revenue for the fourth quarter of last year. For the fiscal year, however, Transat A.T. reported revenues of $124.8 million, down 90.4% or $1.2 billion from the previous fiscal year mark. “Since we resumed operations Read more
Canadian taxpayers are saving themselves a huge chunk of money. In another sign of the travel recovery in Canada, Air Canada has announced that due to its improved liquidity position and ongoing recovery from the pandemic, it is withdrawing from further government of Canada financial support. The support package, announced in April 2021, provided the carrier access to interest-bearing loans of $5.375 billion through several separate credit facilities. To date, Air Canada has only accessed the facility solely dedicated to refunding customers’ non-refundable tickets, while all other remaining facilities totaling $3.975 billion that were offered by the Justin Trudeau government Read more
In late March, Air Transat was still in line for a takeover from Air Canada. Now, they’re getting into bed with WestJet. Two of Canada’s leading airlines have agreed to cooperate on a codeshare that will soon allow customers to book transatlantic travel involving both carriers on a single ticket with through-checked bags. The cooperation will bring more choice to consumers by enabling transatlantic codeshare connections above and beyond what the carriers offer with their own flights. “We are very excited to join forces with WestJet in what I am sure will be a successful collaboration,” said Annick Guérard, President Read more
