Airlines
Avior Airlines signs on with Travelport
Travelport and Venezuelan air carrier, Avior Airlines, have announced a new agreement. The deal also includes an upgrade to Direct Sell and Seamless Availability, which enable real-time reservation and confirmation of bookings, and allow agents to offer the highest level of service to travellers. Based in Barcelona, Venezuela, Avior has a fleet of Boeing 737s, which offers flights across Venezuela's key cities and some important international destinations, primarily for business travellers and tourism. It offers regular flights between strategic cities including Barcelona, Barinas,...
Emirates helps out
Those donating a tennis racquet at this year's Rogers Cup in Toronto from Aug. 4-12 will help kids. Thousands of inner-city children will have an opportunity to swing their own tennis racquets thanks to Emirates airline's Racquet Return Program, returning for its fifth year in support of the Doug Philpott Inner City Children's Tennis Fund. Launched at the 2008 Rogers Cup in Toronto, the Emirates Racquet Return Program will expand this summer to select US Open Series events across North America, including Los Angeles, New Haven and New York. Tennis racquets, preferably junior-sized ones, will...
Farquharson joins WestJet as vice-president, sales
WestJet has announced the appointment of Lyell Farquharson as vice-president, sales, effective Aug. 28. Farquharson joins WestJet from American Express Canada where he had been vice-president and general manager of Business Travel Canada for the last five years. Prior to American Express, he was president of Navigant International Canada, a subsidiary of Navigant International, one of the largest travel management companies in North America. Farquharson is a chartered accountant with a Bachelor of Business Management from Ryerson in Toronto. He takes over for Bryan Wolfenden, who had been...
WestJet teams up with Disney
WestJet has announced that guests onboard its flights this month can expect an extra-special inflight experience. Working with the Walt Disney Company (Canada) Ltd., WestJet has launched a unique inflight experience with a little Disney-inspired magic on board. Guests will receive complimentary Disney-themed snacks and napkins while enjoying free Disney cartoons and movies on seatback televisions throughout the flight. On select routes, guests will also enjoy Disney-themed jokes, fun facts and a complimentary gift. WestJet Vacations offers a range of flexible vacation packages at Aulani, a...
Passenger growth continues to slow
IATA reports that June traffic results continue to show a slowing of growth in line with the weakness in business and consumer confidence. Year-on-year, demand for air travel in June expanded by 6.2%. Capacity grew by a much more cautious 4.5% leaving load factors at 81%. While this appears to be a healthy growth rate, the growth trend since early 2012 has seen a slowdown. IATA points to the February through June trend to illustrate its point, observing that during that time, there was a 2% annualized growth. That is a major slowdown from the 8% annualized growth rate experienced from...
WestJet introduces premium economy seating
WestJet has announced that it will introduce premium economy seating across its entire fleet. The reconfiguration will introduce four rows of extra legroom seating with 36 inches of pitch and convenience features such as priority boarding and complimentary on-board amenities. The reconfiguration will begin this month and be completed in December. As part of this initiative, WestJet will also standardize the seat pitch for the remaining rows on all aircraft to 31 to 32 inches, bringing its seat pitch in line with North American competitors....
TAM honoured
Kudos to Brazil's TAM Airlines, which won in two categories in this year's Skytrax World Airline Awards. TAM took top spot in the Best Airline in South America and the Best Airline Staff in South America categories. The awards, announced July 12 during the Farnborough International Airshow in England, were based on an online survey, focus groups, questionnaires and telephone interviews. TAM is represented in Canada by Airbridge International....
AC, ACPA receive final offer
Air Canada reports that along with the Air Canada Pilots Association (ACPA), it has received the decision of the arbitrator, Douglas Stanley, in the final offer selection arbitration conducted in accordance with the Protecting Air Service Act. The arbitrator's selection of Air Canada's final offer concludes a new collective agreement with ACPA following negotiations and mediated talks that took place over a period of 19 months. The five-year collective agreement is in effect until April 1, 2016. Calin Rovinescu, president and CEO of Air Canada, commented that the arbitrator's decision "brings...