Airlines

Demand slowdown continues

IATA reports that global traffic results for August show demand for air transport continuing to flatten-out, but with significant regional variations. Demand for air travel expanded by 5.1% in August compared to the same month in 2011. This partly reflects a positive distortion owing to the timing of Ramadan. Adjustment for such seasonal fluctuations reveals that passenger demand has been basically flat since June and with only a 1.2% expansion since January. Carriers continued to moderate capacity expansion, limiting it to 4.1% growth, taking load factors to 82.1%. Tony Tyler, IATA's...

Air France releases winter schedule

Air France has announced its winter schedule that comes into effect Oct. 28 as well as new features it has in store for passengers flying to and from Canada. The airline will continue to operate two daily flights between Montreal and Paris and one daily departure out of Toronto. Flight times are unchanged. In Business cabin, all planes serving Canada will be equipped with the latest generation Business seats that stretch 61 cm wide and two metres long. An actual mock-up of the Business cabin seat will be featured at the Air France KLM check-in area at Montréal-Trudeau airport Oct. 4 -;...

Air Transat gets rights to serve El Salvador

Air Transat has been given government approval to operate scheduled international air services between Canada and El Salvador. "The designation of Air Transat to serve El Salvador will contribute to the growth and competitiveness of the Canadian airline industry and provide more choices for travellers with additional, direct flight options to El Salvador,"said Transport Minister Denis Lebel. "It demonstrates Canada's commitment to supporting travel and trade links with Central America."Under Canada's Multiple Designation policy, all Canadian air carriers may apply to the Minister of Transport...

Codeshare deal has WestJet, BA flying high

WestJet has entered into a codeshare agreement with British Airways, enabling British Airways to market and sell WestJet-operated flights. The "BA"code is now being placed on select WestJet flights connecting from Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto to Ottawa, Edmonton, and Victoria. Lynne Embleton, British Airways' director of strategy and business units, commented, "Our partnership with WestJet is great news for our customers. It will enable easier travel from Canada's gateway cities to destinations that have been more difficult to access from the...

Lufthansa takes advantage on new Passport app

Following the launch of the new Passbook app for the iPhone iOS 6 operating system, Lufthansa passengers can now opt to have their mobile boarding pass delivered to their iPhone. Once passengers have successfully completed the mobile check-in procedure, their boarding pass will be sent to their iPhone and saved to the new Passbook app. The mobile boarding pass can then be called up at any time, even without Internet access. As Passbook is time and location aware, the boarding pass will appear on the passenger's lock screen in time for the flight. By the end of this year, in the second phase...

AC, Aer Lingus take first step to codeshare

Irish eyes are definitely smiling today with the announcement that Air Canada and Aer Lingus have signed an interline agreement. The deal is effective immediately and is a preliminary step toward a full code sharing relationship that's expected to be finalized next year between the Canadian and Irish flag carriers. Marcel Forget, vice-president network planning at Air Canada, said that the new deal "will complement our Toronto-Dublin seasonal service to make it easy to fly year-round between Canada and Ireland via convenient connections through London Heathrow Airport." Forget continued, "We...

Air Canada to hire more than 900 workers

Air Canada has announced it will hire more than 900 employees over the next 12 months to meet its planned workforce requirements. In addition, 200 new jobs will be created for flight attendants and pilots at the airline's low cost carrier that will be launched in 2013. "Air Canada is undertaking a selective hiring process over the next 12 months in order to seize new commercial opportunities, enhance customer service and renew our workforce. This recruitment program is consistent with our focus on controlling costs to become more competitive in our various markets,"said Air Canada president...

Africa aviation under the spotlight at WTM 2012

Africa's airline industry will be put under the spotlight at World Travel Market 2012 as part of a wider series of discussions among aviation chiefs over the industry's future. The airline events program will start on Nov. 6 with the "Airline - Out of Africa"session which will look at how the continent's airlines are taking on international airlines to secure a slice of this growing market. In the past many local airlines have complained that they are missing out on the increasing passenger numbers Africa is generating. However, the emergence of strong African airlines is countering this...

Air Canada set to launch low-cost carrier

It's reported that Air Canada will soon announce details for its plans to launch a new low-cost carrier targeting the likes of rivals Transat and Sunwing. According to reports, the carrier will be 100% owned by Air Canada, have its own management team, and focus on Sun and European...

Travelport signs multi-year agreement with Qantas

Travelport has announced a new long-term agreement with Qantas Airways. Effective immediately, the new agreement ensures Galileo, Worldspan and Apollo-connected travel agents worldwide have access to Qantas' full published inventory including ancillary content such as paid seating, consistent with the airline's web site. Last year, Travelport subscribers received full GDS access to the Qantas advance seat selection product, following the introduction of a new booking capability enabling agents to book and pay for preferred seats on Qantas flights via their desktop....