Air Canada Set to Launch Low-Cost Carrier. Air Canada to Hire More Than 900 Workers

Transcription

1 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 destinations 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 In addition to 160 new customer service call centre agents hired to date in 2012, Air Canada is hiring an additional 60 agents in the coming months for its call centres in Montreal and Toronto. The airline is hiring approximately 400 flight attendants to compensate for attrition and meet planned schedule requirements for its main network airline operation with the first training classes scheduled in October. Air Canada will also be seeking candidates for approximately 500 permanent, part-time and full-time airport customer service agent and baggage handler positions at its major airport bases located across Canada mainly to compensate for attrition as the airline prepares to meet planned operational requirements for its winter schedule. Air Canada s low cost carrier will be hiring approximately 150 flight attendants and 50 pilots for its launch in Codeshare Deal has WestJet, British Airways 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. This partnership will enable easier travel from Canada s gateway cities to destinations that have been more difficult to access from the U.K.

2 Porter Opens New Lounge in Newark Waiting for the next Porter flight just got a whole lot better. Passengers can relax at Newark Liberty International Airport in Porter s newest passenger lounge. Similar to lounges located in Toronto and Ottawa, Newark provides comfortable seating, coffee, tea, juice, snacks, WiFi, and even offers unique views of the New York City skyline. Best of all? It s free for all departing Porter passengers! Porter Returns to Vermont This Winter! Porter has made some big improvements since they were last in Vermont. More flights. December 15, 2012, through April 8, 2013, Porter is operating four weekly flights from Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport with connections to many other destinations in our network. Convenience and comfort. Claim your checked baggage and head for the slopes almost as soon as you land at Burlington International Airport. If you require transportation assistance or tourist information, helpful airport ambassadors will be available to assist you at the Welcome Centre. Make a faster getaway to your perfect Vermont vacation. You are now able to catch a shuttle or pick up your rental car right when you land. Earn 1000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles with Park N Fly Simply try Park N Fly s Toronto Valet Airport parking service between October 1st and 21st to receive 1000 bonus Aeroplan Reward Miles. Travel Resources offers Park'N Fly discounts. To receive Park'N Fly discounted rates starting at $13.75 per day Quote Client ID or click the following link to receive a quote and print the coupon: Vancouver Harbour Floatplane Fee After years of negotiations with the newly constructed Vancouver Harbour Floatplane Terminal (VHFC) regarding their proposed terminal usage and dock fees, it was recently announced that by the end of 2012 Harbour Air will be flying in and out of the Vancouver Harbour Flight Centre (VHFC) located in Vancouver s Convention Center, based on an agreement in principle between

3 Harbour Air, Vancouver Harbour Flight Centre and the BC Pavilion Corporation (PavCo). Effective September 19th, the Harbour Air Group, (consisting of Harbour Air, Westcoast Air and Whistler Air), began collecting the terminal fee on behalf of the VHFC at $7.50 per passenger for all flights departing from and arriving into Vancouver s Coal Harbour. Commencing December 1st, in alignment with the other seaplane companies operating out of Vancouver Harbour, the VHFC terminal fee will be $9.50 per passenger. New Visa Requirements from St. Lucia & St. Vincent Citizenship and Immigration Canada has announced that effective September 11, 2012, citizens of St. Lucia and St. Vincent require a visa to enter Canada. For more information about this new visa requirement, please see: Reciprocal Fee for Passengers Entering Argentina Important information for American, Canadian and Australian passengers traveling to Argentina All information and dates below are subject to change. You should contact any Argentine consulate or embassy for more information. There might be some exceptions to who has to and who doesn't have to pay this reciprocal fee. The fee that Americans, Canadians and Australians must pay when they enter Argentina (AEP and EZE) can presently be paid upon arrival. In the future passengers will have to pay the fee on-line. If one arrives in Argentina without showing that the fee was paid he/she will not be able to enter Argentina. Until payment of the fee on-line is mandatory one can either pay upon arrival or on-line before leaving. For passengers arriving in EZE on/after December 29, 2012 the fee MUST BE PAID ON-LINE. For passengers arriving in AEP on/after October 01, 2012 the fee MUST BE PAID ON-LINE. Payment can be made on this web site

4 2012 Predictions from Topaz International Over the years since Topaz International has been in business, we have read and evaluated numerous forecasts for future travel spend patterns with great interest. In addition, we have been asked by clients all over the world for our take on the future, using a combination of our experience and our research. We have resisted. We have not felt we had the expertise to effectively look at our crystal ball and determine what will happen at some point in the future. But we have changed our tune. This year is our first forecast for the future of travel spend all over the world. This forecast is based on the following key inputs: a) General Research: What are global organizations like the IMF and World Bank predicting for general economic growth? b) Targeted Research: Using a team of students and professors, we have looked at specific factors that impact business travel. c) Industry Research: Drawing on a vast network of industry professionals, we have used their input to drive our resulting predictions. So the result is our view of what the future will hold for three key pieces of travel spend - air, hotel and car. We have broken the predictions into five regions of the world. Even breaking down the world into five regions was not easy - one country may be dramatically different than the rest of the region - but we understand that shaping budgets requires this level of focus. The final premise is simple: How can we make an educated guess with regards to business travel growth based on what we know today? North America Air: +3.5% Hotel: +5.0% Car Rental: +3.0% There continues to be a lot of uncertainty in North America, driven primarily by the United States. What is the economic outlook and how will the elections shape those predictions? Most global think tanks are predicting economic growth in the US at somewhere between 1.5% and 2.0%. What is likely in the business travel industry is a continued strong management of all inventory, resulting in modest price increases. However, there are those that are questioning the continued escalation of prices due to reductions in demand - travelers and businesses are electing to severely limit travel because of the high prices - thus keeping dramatic price increases in check. Latin America Air: +2.0% Hotel: +5.0% Car Rental: +2.0% Latin America continues to show strong economic growth as their economies are fueled by commodities. While the predictions for overall economic growth reflect a stronger 4.0%, we temper that in air and car due to strong competition in all markets of Latin America. On the other hand hotels should be able to drive prices up based on the increased demand for them and lesser supply.

5 There are some Latin American countries that could impact these predictions based on their governmental organizations, but overall these are sound outlooks for this region. Europe Air: +3.5% Hotel: +2.0% Car Rental: +2.0% Europe is a tough one to predict. All indications for overall economic growth are that this is a very stagnant economy, with fears of financial meltdowns driving predictions of no growth to moderate growth of only 1%. The challenges of the economy therefore drive the predictions for travel and business travel specifically, resulting in moderate growth for both hotel and car. However, the predictions are greater for air growth in pricing because the drivers of this segment, like competition and supply, result in stronger increases for air travel in Europe. This region will be interesting for sure in Middle East and Africa Air: +2.5% Hotel: +1.0% Car Rental: +1.5% The opportunities for sound growth and opportunities do exist in the Middle East and in Africa. However, some of the optimistic outlook is tempered by the political landscape and the chance of conflict in the region. Air carriers in the region will control their inventory to reflect the demand and therefore will have the opportunity to raise prices moderately in some markets. Demand for hotels and car rentals will continue to be weak due to an overall downturn in tourism resulting in bargains for business travelers. Asia Pacific Air: +3.5% Hotel: +3.0% Car Rental: +4.0% Asia is the region currently driving global growth. As a result of this demand, travel suffers the greatest increases in price for 2013 versus other regions of the world. Emerging countries (like India and China) in this region are growing rapidly, but there is the threat of a downturn based on some indicators in those countries - they have been growing so fast and so long that some expect an adjustment that may temper these forecasts. Summary To answer our premise, we can only offer predictions on business travel growth based on the data we have available to us today along with our knowledge of what has happened in the past under the same or similar economic conditions. While some unexpected global events could skew these estimates, we believe this is a solid forecast for business travel in 2013.

6 Should you have any questions please contact a member of our Management Team at : Lucy La Vigna, Director of Operations - lucyl@travelresources.net Selina Johnston, Manager, Client Services - selinaj@travelresources.net