WestJet today, is celebrating the launch of service to Edinburgh with the departure of WS16 from Toronto Pearson International Airport at 9:25 p.m. local time last night. With the addition of the airline’s latest connection to Europe, WestJet will now fly non-stop to five European destinations from Toronto this summer including Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dublin, London-Gatwick and Barcelona, Spain. “We are thrilled that Edinburgh is the final European connection to inaugurate from Toronto this summer, rounding out the restoration of our network and strengthening our offerings from Toronto. These cities are some of the world’s most vibrant and iconic destinations and Read more
toronto. Pearson Airport
Slowdowns at Canadian airports are “unacceptable” and are harming the country’s economy, Mississauga civic and business leaders said today. Speaking at a press conference at Toronto Pearson Airport, officials said the Trudeau government needs to take urgent action to address delays at Pearson and other airports. The speakers said Ottawa needs to dump random COVID-19 testing at Canadian airports, and also needs to eliminate lengthy conversations between Canadian Borders Services Agency (customs workers) and arriving passengers. Doug Allingham, Chair of the Board of the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, said chats with custom officers have traditionally taken about 30 seconds per Read more
The Trudeau government says it’s adding more airport screening officers and customs workers to help ease congestion at Canada’s crowded airports. Senior federal ministers issued a statement late Friday to say that the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA) “has been working with its contractors to increase the number of screening officers at passenger screening checkpoints. Currently, there are approximately 400 additional screening officers in different phases of their training across the country who will be deployed between now and the end of June.” With Transport Canada’s support, “these recruits will benefit from progressing more quickly through a more flexible Read more
The Trudeau government is working hard on Canadian airport congestion problems, and an announcement is likely coming soon, Tourism Minister Randy Boissonnault said today. Speaking at a press conference at Rendez-vous Canada, a tourism session being put on by Destination Canada, Boissonnault said he’s been speaking daily with Transport Minister Omar Alghabra and other ministers about lineups at Toronto Pearson and other airports. “Minister Alghabra I think will have announcements on that,” he said. “We are very seized by this idea of increasing the number of agents we have at Canadian airports. And it’s not just airports. It’s the Great Read more
The head of the union for Canadian Customs workers says the Canadian government has steadily decreased the number of border employees over the years. They’re calling on the Trudeau government to increase workers at the border and ease logjams that are bedeviling passengers flying into Canadian airports. “As travelers arriving at Canada’s international airports continue to experience extensive delays, the National President of the Customs and Immigration Union (CIU) is calling upon the Minister of Public Safety and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) to increase the number of border services officers assigned to passenger operations in Canadian airports and Read more
