Is the ArriveCAN app killing Canadian tourism? A new CBC story quotes a border city tourism operator and the mayor of Niagara Falls, Ontario as saying the app has done tremendous damage to a region that relies heavily on American visitation to keep people employed. “When you talk to any businesses in town, they’ll tell you there’s a very small amount of American dollars coming in,” said Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati. “It’s been hurtful, especially after two years of COVID.” Anna Pierce, vice president of Niagara Helicopters, told the network that she’s had several calls from potential U.S. visitors Read more
Toronto Pearson
Is ArriveCAN Killing Canadian Tourism? Also, Airport Delays Continue + Porter Expansion Edges Closer
The Trudeau government says it’s making progress on passport and airport delays, but it admits there’s a lot of work to do. Federal government ministers put out a statement today saying that it’s hired more than 700 new staff for passport offices and hired 1,800 more security screening officers at airports. It also said it’s decreasing flight delays,cancellations and baggage woes, and that the average wait times at the passport call centre have significantly decreased from a peak of 108 minutes earlier this spring to 24 minutes as of August 21. “With this surge in passport requests and significant delays Read more
Things don’t seem to be improving a whole lot at Toronto Pearson. With the summer travel season winding down and kids heading back to school, it seems Canadians are still flying a great deal. And still getting delayed. Using stats from flightaware.com, I tracked outbound delays at Toronto Pearson for five consecutive days, August 24, 25, 26, 27 and 28. I found cancellations are quite low, which is good news. But delays remain stubbornly high. Here’s what I found for OUTBOUND flights, courtesy of Flight Aware. August 24: 12 cancelled (1%). 168 delayed (27%) August 25: 7 cancelled (1%), 223 Read more
Canada Jetlines will begin flights between Toronto and Calgary next month. Set for its debut on September 22, 2022, Canada Jetlines will begin operations with biweekly flights operating Thursdays and Sundays out of Toronto (YYZ) to Calgary (YYC). Flights will depart Toronto at 7:55 a.m. and then leave Calgary for the return flight at 11:40 MST. Frequency will increase to three flights per week, Thursdays through Sundays, starting October 13. This route will be the first operated by Canada Jetlines, with more routes to be announced soon. “Canada Jetlines is proud to launch our initial flights between Toronto to Calgary Read more
The flood of delayed and cancelled flights and lost luggage that has marred the resumption of air travel will continue to recede through the rest of the year as hiring and training programs gear up, says Amos Kazzaz, Air Canada’s chief financial officer. In a story in today’s Globe and Mail, Kazzaz said airport disruptions in Canada are improving and are unlikely to extend into the new year, pointing to the reduced numbers of delays, cancellations and baggage complaints in the second week of August. The website flightaware.com reports that only one per cent of Air Canada flights were cancelled Read more
