Airlines

Brad Cicero, Porter Airlines director of communications and public affairs, says Porter is the only airline in North America that operates the E195-E2 aircraft. (Brendan Mayer/News Staff)

Airline with free beer and wine set to fly out of Victoria airport

The inaugural flight will be on Wednesday

 

Marlie Kelsey with the basket of name badges for the CP/Canadian Airlines reunion. (Photo by Don Bodger)

Canadian Pacific Air Lines reunion lands in Chemainus

Organizer anxious to show off her home town for the weekend

 

<div>Though Canadian flights have long been dominated by Air Canada and WestJet, the emergence of newer carriers including Flair Airlines and Lynx Air has shaken up the sector, injecting fresh competition to a once-complacent market. A WestJet Airlines Boeing 737 Max aircraft taxis to a gate after arriving at Vancouver International Airport in Richmond, B.C., Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck</div>

Lower airfares on the way due to Canada’s more crowded skies

New airline carriers are shaking up the status quo in some of Canada’s busiest routes

 

Pacific Coastal Airlines will introduce a new route to Kelowna from Victoria International Airport starting in October. (Photo courtesy Pacific Coastal Airlines)

Direct flights between Kamloops and Victoria begin in October

The one-hour flights will depart Victoria for Kamloops each day at 3:40 p.m

  • Jul 18, 2023
Pacific Coastal Airlines will introduce a new route to Kelowna from Victoria International Airport starting in October. (Photo courtesy Pacific Coastal Airlines)
Pacific Coastal Airlines will introduce two new routes to Kelowna and to Vancouver’s South Terminal starting on Sept. 12. (Photo courtesy Pacific Coastal Airlines)

Airline will connect Nanaimo with Kelowna and Vancouver’s south terminal

Pacific Coastal Airlines will start daily service starting in September

Pacific Coastal Airlines will introduce two new routes to Kelowna and to Vancouver’s South Terminal starting on Sept. 12. (Photo courtesy Pacific Coastal Airlines)
A passenger boards a WestJet Encore Bombardier Q400 twin-engined turboprop aircraft in Kamloops, Saturday, June 3, 2023. WestJet and Swoop pilots ratified their collective agreement after a bargaining process that saw the threat of a strike snarl many Canadians’ long weekend plans. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

WestJet to wind down budget airline Swoop, fold it into main operation

Each trip by the carrier’s 180-plane fleet will offer a portion of ultra-low-cost fares

A passenger boards a WestJet Encore Bombardier Q400 twin-engined turboprop aircraft in Kamloops, Saturday, June 3, 2023. WestJet and Swoop pilots ratified their collective agreement after a bargaining process that saw the threat of a strike snarl many Canadians’ long weekend plans. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
Flair Airlines. (Photo via The Canadian Press)

Flair Airlines says 4 of its aircraft seized in a ‘commercial dispute’

Some flights may be impacted up until Monday

Flair Airlines. (Photo via The Canadian Press)
This airport surveillance camera image released in an FBI affidavit shows alleged suspect Marc Muffley at Lehigh Valley International Airport in Allentown, Pa., on Monday, Feb. 27, 2023. Muffley was arrested Monday after an explosive was found in a bag checked onto a Florida-bound flight, federal authorities said. (FBI via AP)

No bail for Pennsylvania man with explosives in suitcase

A Pennsylvania man admitted packing explosive materials, fuses and a lighter in…

This airport surveillance camera image released in an FBI affidavit shows alleged suspect Marc Muffley at Lehigh Valley International Airport in Allentown, Pa., on Monday, Feb. 27, 2023. Muffley was arrested Monday after an explosive was found in a bag checked onto a Florida-bound flight, federal authorities said. (FBI via AP)
Luggage bags are amassed in the bag claim area at Toronto Pearson International Airport, as a major winter storm disrupts flights in and out of the airport, in Toronto, Saturday, Dec. 24, 2022. From long hours waiting on hold to sleepless nights on airport floors and desperate scrambles to rebook flights and find missing bags, it was a holiday travel season that no one had on their wish list — but that thousands of people got. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston

‘Not hiding’: Transport minister says Ottawa will be accountable on travel mess

MPs are probing what went wrong in the days before and after Christmas

Luggage bags are amassed in the bag claim area at Toronto Pearson International Airport, as a major winter storm disrupts flights in and out of the airport, in Toronto, Saturday, Dec. 24, 2022. From long hours waiting on hold to sleepless nights on airport floors and desperate scrambles to rebook flights and find missing bags, it was a holiday travel season that no one had on their wish list — but that thousands of people got. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston
Aviation analytics company Cirium says Canada’s two biggest airlines ranked low in terms of on-time performance this year. The data firm says that among the ten biggest airlines in Canada and the U.S., Air Canada and WestJet Airlines Ltd. ranked worst and second-worst for their punctuality. An Air Canada flight taxis to a runway as a WestJet flight takes off at Vancouver International Airport, in Richmond, B.C., on March 20, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Canadian airlines come in at low end of on-time performance: analytics firm

WestJet and Air Canada only managed on-time arrivals for around 40 to 45 per cent of their flights

Aviation analytics company Cirium says Canada’s two biggest airlines ranked low in terms of on-time performance this year. The data firm says that among the ten biggest airlines in Canada and the U.S., Air Canada and WestJet Airlines Ltd. ranked worst and second-worst for their punctuality. An Air Canada flight taxis to a runway as a WestJet flight takes off at Vancouver International Airport, in Richmond, B.C., on March 20, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
The Kelowna airport is full of passengers hoping to get to their destination for the holiday season. (Jacqueline Gelineau/Capital News)

‘I’m just a number, not a person’: Kelowna traveller re-routed and stranded in Victoria

Cam Lainchbury was told that WestJet does not have enough pilots qualified to fly in poor weather

The Kelowna airport is full of passengers hoping to get to their destination for the holiday season. (Jacqueline Gelineau/Capital News)
Passengers walk at Calgary International Airport in Calgary, Alta., Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

WestJet says it’s back online after global outage, but more disruptions expected

Airline hasn’t said what caused the outage

Passengers walk at Calgary International Airport in Calgary, Alta., Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
(@jhodyharper / Instagram)

Kelowna residents claim racism, sue Swoop airline after being kicked off flight

A couple is suing Swoop after being escorted off the low-cost flight

(@jhodyharper / Instagram)
On Thursday (June 9), the inaugural Swoop flight from Edmonton to Comox landed shortly after 8 a.m. from the ultra-low-cost carrier (ULCC). Photo by Erin Haluschak

Swoop low-cost air carrier now taking off into Comox

It is the second ULCC to service the Comox Valley Airport within the past few months

On Thursday (June 9), the inaugural Swoop flight from Edmonton to Comox landed shortly after 8 a.m. from the ultra-low-cost carrier (ULCC). Photo by Erin Haluschak
In this Aug. 2, 2019 photo, Mike Tyson attends a celebrity golf tournament in Dana Point, Calif. Authorities are investigating after cellphone video appears to show Mike Tyson hitting another passenger on a plane at San Francisco International Airport. (Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP, File)

Video shows boxing legend Mike Tyson punching airline passenger

Both were released pending further investigation

In this Aug. 2, 2019 photo, Mike Tyson attends a celebrity golf tournament in Dana Point, Calif. Authorities are investigating after cellphone video appears to show Mike Tyson hitting another passenger on a plane at San Francisco International Airport. (Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP, File)
Passengers wait to have their bags checked-in at Montreal–Trudeau International Airport in Montreal, Saturday, December 19, 2020. Canadian airlines are asking a Federal Court of Appeal judge today to quash rules that beef up compensation for passengers subjected to delayed flights and damaged luggage. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

Canadian airlines among carriers asking appeal court to quash passenger rights rules

The hearings are slated to run Wednesday and Thursday

Passengers wait to have their bags checked-in at Montreal–Trudeau International Airport in Montreal, Saturday, December 19, 2020. Canadian airlines are asking a Federal Court of Appeal judge today to quash rules that beef up compensation for passengers subjected to delayed flights and damaged luggage. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
A worker checks the temperature of a traveler departing from Pearson International Airport, in Mississauga, Ont., Thursday, Dec. 16, 2021. Canadian air travellers are experiencing an uptick in flight cancellations this holiday season, but airlines say weather is a bigger factor than COVID-19. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Tijana Martin

Weather, not Omicron, taking the biggest bite out of Canadian airline schedules

Frigid temperatures and arctic air have left most of the western provinces with wind chills dipping to -55C

A worker checks the temperature of a traveler departing from Pearson International Airport, in Mississauga, Ont., Thursday, Dec. 16, 2021. Canadian air travellers are experiencing an uptick in flight cancellations this holiday season, but airlines say weather is a bigger factor than COVID-19. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Tijana Martin
Flair Airlines will soon be flying out of YQQ. (File photo) Flair Airlines will soon be flying out of YQQ. (File photo)

Flair Airlines landing at Comox Valley Airport, adding new Toronto/Victoria route

The Edmonton-based airline will start flying out of YQQ beginning March 29, 2022

Flair Airlines will soon be flying out of YQQ. (File photo) Flair Airlines will soon be flying out of YQQ. (File photo)
A Porter airlines flight makes its final approach as it lands at the airport Tuesday July 2, 2019 in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Porter could shake up Canadian airline industry with jet expansion from Pearson airport

Porter has placed a firm order for 30 planes and 50 purchase right options

A Porter airlines flight makes its final approach as it lands at the airport Tuesday July 2, 2019 in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
Baggage stacks up from delayed travellers in the baggage claim area in Denver International Airport Wednesday, June 16, 2021, in Denver. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/David Zalubowski

Feds lay out beefed-up flight refund rules after gaps laid bare by pandemic

The majority of large airlines have now agreed to reimburse customers

Baggage stacks up from delayed travellers in the baggage claim area in Denver International Airport Wednesday, June 16, 2021, in Denver. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/David Zalubowski