Flair Airlines has been making a ton of noise in the Canadian travel marketplace. We should find out tomorrow if that’s going to continue. Officials from the Edmonton-based airline on Wednesday (June 1) are expected to announce the results of a Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) investigation on whether it may continue to fly in Canada. The Canadian government has been looking into allegations that Flair didn’t meet the conditions to qualify as being Canadian owned. Ottawa says at least 51 per cent of a company’s voting interests must be owned and controlled by Canadians and no more than 25 per cent Read more
travel news
Tourism Weeks kicked off in Ottawa today. Randy Boissonnault, Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance, Beth Potter, President and CEO of the Tourism Industry Association of Canada (TIAC), and the Parliamentary Tourism Caucus officially launched National Tourism Week at a press conference in the nation’s capital. For more than 10 years, Tourism Week has been presented by TIAC to encourage all tourism partners to come together to celebrate tourism as vital to the Canadian economy and to the social and cultural fabric of communities across the nation. The seven-day awareness campaign invites private- and public-sector partners in Canada Read more
Swoop, Canada’s leading ultra-low-cost airline, today launched its inaugural flight to Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport from Toronto Pearson International Airport. Swoop flight WO746 took off from Toronto this morning at 6:30 a.m. ET and arrived in Chicago at 7:20 a.m. local time. “As Canada’s ultra-not-expensive airline, we are thrilled to continue our network expansion across North America this summer, connecting Toronto and Chicago with affordable fares,” said Bert van der Stege, Head of Commercial and Finance, Swoop. “Today’s celebration reinforces our commitment to Canadian travellers, unlocking opportunities to explore highly-sought destinations at ultra-affordable prices.” EDITOR’S NOTE: I dearly love Chicago Read more
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
Would-be Canadian travellers are more worried about gas prices and increased travel costs versus COVID-19, a new study says. With the Victoria Day holiday weekend being the unofficial start of the summer travel season, online travel agency CheapOair Canada has released the results of a new poll that asked Canadians which travel destination and activities they are most looking forward to while also looking into what their top travel concerns continue to be. • The study found that over 36% of Canadians listed Canada as their preferred travel destination this summer, followed by the U.S. (7.1%) and then Europe (5%). Read more
