Aviation

Edmonton International Airport (YEG) has a new sensory room to support passengers with sensory sensitivities, including autism, anxiety and other cognitive or neurodivergent challenges. Developed in collaboration with Autism Edmonton, the space is located post-security in the domestic-international departures lounge across from Gate 49.

WestJet has announced a major expansion of its domestic network with new non-stop service between Halifax and St. John’s and three western Canadian cities for summer 2025 – all boosting domestic travel options as well as connections to transatlantic services from the eastern seaboard.

Singapore Changi Airport has been named the World’s Best Airport 2025 in the prestigious Skytrax World Airport Awards, held last week in Madrid. Notably, Vancouver was named best airport in North America, 2nd-best globally in its category (20-30 million passengers) and 13th globally in the Awards’ pre-eminent best-overall category, leading a trio Canadian airport rankings in the top 100.

It seems to be the bane of many a traveller: not enough – or big enough – bin space on board. With this in mind, Air Canada says it pleased to report that it will be the launch customer for the Airbus Airspace cabin on the A220 family of aircraft, which will increase the overhead capacity of bags by more than 15%.

Blaming America’s ongoing trade war with the world for depressed bookings amid uncertain expectations for business and household spending, Delta Air Lines says it is reducing growth plans this year and instead “focussing on what we can control.”

Budget carrier Avelo Airlines signed an agreement to fly U.S. federal deportation flights from Arizona starting in May, according to the company, whose founder acknowledged the decision may be controversial.

Three Sunwing Airlines Boeing 737 aircraft (tails 395, 396 and 393) have begun service for WestJet, flying both WestJet and Sunwing Vacations guests as the two brands prepare to fully integrate on May 29.

By Michael Baginski/   Virgin Atlantic celebrated its arrival in Toronto on Thursday with its founder Sir Richard Branson at Toronto Pearson International Airport. The route marks Virgin Atlantic’s return to Canada after more than a decade, linking Toronto and London. It is also the third attempt by the British carrier to fly the lucrative YYZ-LHR route.

Service to Air Canada’s newest destination in Asia – Manila – took flight Wednesday from Vancouver, marking the start of three times weekly year-round service (increasing to four times weekly on May 1) linking Canada and the Philippines.

On a day that Air Canada celebrated the resumption of flights between Ottawa and London Heathrow, the carrier confirmed that its cross-border flight bookings for the next six months have decreased about 10% – though considerably less than some industry suggestions that traffic has dropped by up to 70 percent.

Claiming “Our goal is to fly where our customers want to travel,” Porter Airlines is adding more Canada to its summer schedule. The carrier says domestic flying will comprise 80% of its total network capacity, up from 75% in its original seasonal plan.

Air Canada is adding a new route and boosting frequencies to popular Europe destinations for the summer, highlighted by new service from Montreal to Edinburgh, Scotland. The carrier is also adding close to 1,300 weekly seats to Paris and Athens, and is also extending its peak Toronto to Rome schedule until October.

A mixed reaction from Canadians has greeted the launch of WestJet’s on-board Wi-Fi service powered by Starlink – the satellite internet technology made by Elon Musk’s rocket company, SpaceX. Activated in March, the service now offers free Wi-Fi on 16 of the carrier’s nearly 140 planes, with the airline expecting to complete hardware installations on its narrow-body fleet by the end of this year and on its wide-body aircraft before 2027.

The head of the Federal Aviation Administration told Congress during a hearing Thursday about a midair collision over Washington, D.C., that killed 67 people that the agency must do more to ensure flying remains safe. “We have to do better,” Chris Rocheleau said. “We have to identify trends, we have to get smarter about how we use data, and when we put corrective actions in place, we must execute them.”

A new partnership between Porter Airlines and Pascan Aviation will improve access to air travel across Eastern Canada, taking advantage of Porter’s growing North American network and Pascan’s Québec and Maritimes-focused regional flights. Primary connecting airports are in Halifax and Québec City, with other hubs serving as secondary options.

The union representing WestJet pilots is asking a judge to quash federal approval of temporary foreign workers in the cockpit. In an application it says was filed Monday, the Air Line Pilots Association petitioned the Federal Court to declare invalid a government decision green-lighting temporary work permits at WestJet Encore earlier this month.

Airplanes with standing sections. An extra fee for boarding charged at airport terminals. Even smaller carry-on luggage allowances. These are a few of the features offered by ‘Unfair Canada,’ a fictional airline (based on a real one) with the slogan “where we can’t take you!” and which runs a scrolling banner on its website proclaiming “all flights cancelled because we feel like it.”

Malaysia’s government has given final approval for a Texas-based marine robotics company to renew the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which is believed to have crashed in the southern Indian Ocean more than a decade ago.

A preliminary report into a plane crash at Toronto’s Pearson airport last month says the aircraft’s alert system issued a warning about the descent rate less than three seconds before touchdown. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada released its report Thursday morning as it continues to investigate the Feb. 17 crash landing that sent 21 people to hospital, noting that it’s too early to draw any conclusions.

Porter Airlines is expanding its VIPorter loyalty program, giving members more ways to earn and redeem points for travel. For the first time, members can redeem VIPorter points for flights with partner airlines, starting with Air Transat and Alaska Airlines. Over 2,000 routes are now available for reward travel.

A government proposal to increase the privatization of airports in Canada threatens to make travel more expensive and ‘a bad idea,” says the union for 18,500 flight attendants across the country.

Discount carrier Spirit Airlines has emerged from bankruptcy protection. The budget airline – known for its no-frills, low-cost flights on a fleet of yellow planes – said that its parent, Spirit Aviation Holdings, exited Chapter 11 after finalizing debt restructuring.

Federal investigators looking into the cause of the January collision between a passenger jet and an Army helicopter near Washington, D.C., that killed 67 people recommended a ban on some helicopter flights Tuesday, saying the current setup “poses an intolerable risk.”

Construction is underway at the Calgary International Airport Domestic Terminal building to consolidate all domestic security checkpoints into one centralized screening process. The updated infrastructure will eliminate the need to remove laptops, and permitted liquids, aerosols and gels from carry-on bags, making the screening process faster, more efficient and convenient.

Canada has reached a first-time Blue Sky air transport agreement with Ghana, a West African country the government says is a “growing market.” The new agreement includes the right for Canada and Ghana to designate multiple airlines to operate scheduled air services between the two countries.

Effective May 6, WestJet will accept new maximum carry-on baggage sizing to seamlessly align with common international cabin baggage dimensions adopted by other North American carriers and luggage manufacturers, including partner carrier, Delta Air Lines.