Canadians have new ways to visit three cool U.S. destinations. WestJet on Friday celebrated the start of its nonstop flights between Calgary and Washington D.C., as well commencement of its nonstop service between Edmonton and Minneapolis. Air Canada today (Saturday) will begin service between Toronto and the California capital of Sacramento. WestJet celebrated the launch of its first-ever service between Calgary and Washington D.C., on June 2 with the departure of WS1618 at 11:30 a.m. MST. With the inclusion of Washington D.C. to WestJet’s Calgary network along with new service to Detroit and the restoration of service to an expansive Read more
toronto. Pearson Airport
The good news is that the new Air Canada lounge at the Toronto Island Airport is a beauty. The really good news is that Canada’s largest airlines plans “top to bottom” changes to some of its other lounges, including domestic lounges at Toronto Pearson, Montreal Trudeau and Vancouver International. Minutes after the doors opened to the newest Air Canada lounge, and the only one at YTZ/Billy Bishop Airport, airline officials were talking about major improvements to existing lounges at a variety of airports. “Over the next five years you can expect us to go into all of our largest club Read more
The Trudeau government says the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA) will soon launch a new Verified Traveller program that will offer a faster and more efficient screening experience for eligible travellers at select airports across Canada. The news was quickly welcomed by a lobby group of Canadian business people, which called it a “forward-thinking” plan that will “improve the security screening experience for eligible travellers.” Ottawa said the new Verified Traveller program will replace the current Trusted Traveller program. By June 21, 2023, dedicated Verified Traveller screening lines will be available at select domestic and international checkpoints in the Read more
Air Canada will begin direct flights between Toronto and Sacramento on June 3, 2023, with four flights per week. Here’s a story I wrote for the Postmedia newspaper group several years ago. SACRAMENTO – This used to be the Rodney Dangerfield of California cities, a government town that never got the kind of attention heaped on San Francisco or Los Angeles. But wonderful, local food, relatively affordable rents and a great location – 90 minutes from San Francisco and less than that to the majestic Sierra Nevada mountains – have brought in a number of young entrepreneurs looking to make Read more
We all remember the headlines from last summer: “Canadian airport chaos,” “A sea of lost bags,” and “Toronto Pearson ranked worst airport in world.” I did a series of CBC radio interviews last Friday to talk about whether we’ll see a repeat of the 2022 Summer of Travel Chaos. Here’s what I had to say. What do thing look like for the summer of 2023? There appears to be tons of demand. Air Canada last Friday reported operating revenues for the first quarter of this year were nearly double 2022 numbers. A Mastercard report issued last Thursday found that leisure Read more
