Canada’s largest two airlines have their eyes on Asia. A celebration was held at Vancouver International Airport Thursday night to mark Air Canada’s inaugural flight between YVR and Bangkok. Meanwhile, the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) has granted a license to WestJet for flights to Japan. WestJet hasn’t made an announcement, but the CTA website says WestJet “has applied to the Canadian Transportation Agency (Agency) for a licence to operate a scheduled international service, large aircraft, in accordance with the Air Transport Agreement between Canada and Japan, signed on January 12, 1955 (Agreement). “The Agency is satisfied that the applicant meets Read more
Japan
The Canadian government today announced an expanded agreement between Canada and India that will allow designated airlines to operate an unlimited number of flights between the two countries. The previous agreement limited each country to 35 flights per week. This significant move will allow airlines of Canada and India to better respond to the needs of the Canada-India air transport market. The new rights under the expanded agreement are available for use by airlines immediately. “The expanded air transport agreement between Canada and India is a positive development for air transport relations between our countries,” said Canadian Transport Minister Omar Read more
Canada has dropped a spot, but we’re still on the podium. The Anholt-Ipsos Nation Brands Index (NBI) is an annual study that has been conducted since 2008, gathering perceptions of countries around the world and ranking them from top to bottom. The latest index puts Germany in first place for the sixth year in a row. Japan was second (it was also second in 2018), while Canada fell from second last year to third this year. The U.S. remains in eighth place this year, same as in 2021. Other notable changes include the UK, which was second in 2002 but Read more
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
Today’s travel notebook looks at a variety of subjects, including WestJet trimming flights to Halifax and other cities in Atlantic Canada, a new, long flight between New York City and New Zealand, and the slow opening of Japan to tourism. WEST JET TO TRIM ATLANTIC CANADA FLIGHTS The CBC reports that WestJet, which announced earlier this year it would retrench and focus more on Western Canada, has cut fliights to several cities in Atlantic Canada. Flights between Halifax and Montreal will be suspended Oct. 28, while flights from Halifax to Ottawa and St. John’s will be suspended in early January. Read more