Aviation experts say it was just a matter of time before one of Canada’s new low-cost carriers became unable to fly. With recent well documented reports of financial issues at Flair Airlines, it is perhaps more unexpected that Lynx Air was the first to fall in the crowded low-cost marketplace.
Passengers booked with Lynx Air were left scrambling over the weekend to replace cancelled flights after the ultra-low-cost airline announced Thursday evening that it is ceasing operations effective today after filing for creditor protection.
UPDATED: Officials with the Calgary-based ultra low cost carrier Lynx Air announced Thursday evening that it is ceasing operations, effective at 12:01 a.m. MT on Feb. 26, 2024, after filing for creditor protection. Lynx Air has advised passengers with existing bookings to contact their credit card company to secure refunds for pre-booked travel.
In move to improve regional connectivity for passengers, Air Canada has launched a pilot project connecting passengers from John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport and the Region of Waterloo International Airport in southern Ontario to its hub at Toronto Pearson via luxury motorcoach.
United Airlines says it plans to resume flights to Israel next month, reviving a route that was suspended in October at the start of the Israel-Hamas war. The airline said Wednesday that it will start flights from Newark, New Jersey, to Tel Aviv with a stop in Munich on March 2 and March 4.
American Airlines says that starting with tickets issued on May 1, customers will have to buy tickets directly from the airline or its partner carriers, or from preferred online travel agencies, if they want to earn points in its AAdvantage loyalty program. The airline said it will list the preferred travel agencies in late April. Corporate travellers won’t be affected.
The price of a plane ticket fell more than 14 percent on average in January compared with a year earlier, according to new data from Statistics Canada. Airfares also dropped nearly 24 percent between December and January, the agency’s consumer price index report said, as holiday demand gave way to stay-at-home habits last month.
Air Canada continued its post-pandemic recovery in the last quarter of 2023, earning roughly 10% higher profits year-over-year and, more importantly, registering a nearly $4-billion swing into the black for the year compared to 2022.
WestJet chief executive Alexis von Hoensbroech has apologized for incidents where the airline failed to accommodate people living with disabilities, and says the airline is “committed to doing better.”
As rumours swirled Thursday, Flair and Lynx declined to comment on speculation of a merger, and various sources said the precise timing of any announcement was as yet unknown. However, the Toronto Star, citing three industry sources, reported that “Flair Airlines and competitor Lynx Air are in discussions about a merger, and a deal could be announced the same day.
What a week. First we had mummified monkeys (‘bushmeat’ as it was so appetizingly termed) now we have a Delta Air Lines flight forced to turn around back to Amsterdam due to a “bug” infested carry on bag. Well, though the airline diplomatically described an “improperly packed carry-on bag,” social media posts (you can always count on them for the nitty gritty) noted the ‘bugs’ falling from an overhead bin, were in fact …ewww
It’s probably no surprise that Las Vegas Harry Reid Airport saw its busiest day ever following Super Bowl LVIII. The airport handled almost 104,000 air travellers, with early morning flights extremely busy on Monday.
Three separate unions representing flight attendants at major US airlines are picketed and held rallies at 30 airports on Tuesday as they pushed for new contracts and higher wages.
WestJet faces indefinite delays on dozens of new aircraft deliveries after a panel blowout on a Boeing 737 Max plane last month prompted a halt to greater production at the US aircraft maker. The Calgary-based carrier bought 42 Boeing 737 Max 10 jetliners in 2022, with options for 22 more – on top of nearly two dozen earlier Max orders still in the pipeline.
Canada is providing consular assistance to a Canadian citizen who was taken into custody last week after Thai authorities say the person opened an emergency door on a Thai Airways plane and triggered the evacuation slide prior to takeoff. According to a statement issued by the Chiang Mai International Airport, the incident took place on the night of February 7.
A grainy sonar image recorded by a private pilot has reinvigorated interest in one of the past century’s most alluring mysteries: What happened to Amelia Earhart when her plane vanished during her flight around the world in 1937? Numerous expeditions have turned up nothing, only confirming that swaths of ocean floor held no trace of her twin-tailed monoplane. Tony Romeo now believes his new South Carolina-based sea exploration company captured an outline of the iconic American’s Lockheed 10-E Electra.
Each aircraft has a set maximum weight for safe takeoff. Almost everything that gets onto a commercial plane — fuel, checked-in baggage, cargo and meals — is weighed. For passengers and their cabin bags, most airlines use average data. But Finland’s national carrier Finnair said Friday that it started asking passengers this week voluntarily and anonymously hop onto a scale with their hand luggage at the country’s main airport in Helsinki.
The oneworld alliance is celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2024. Launched on Feb. 1, 1999 by founding members American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, and Qantas, the alliance has flown nearly nine billion customers on its member airlines and currently boasts a takeoff or landing somewhere in the world every six seconds, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
German airline Lufthansa said up to 100,000 passengers could be affected over February 07 and 08 as Verdi union members at Frankfurt, Munich, Hamburg, Berlin, and Duesseldorf airports walked out early on Wednesday due to an ongoing pay dispute. The walkout impacted check-in, ground handling and maintenance operations and caused hundreds of flight cancellations and delays.
Judy Cameron still remembers getting the telegram that marked her first offer to fly planes for a major commercial carrier. Pacific Western Airlines had come calling, writing her a “congratulations” and inviting her to sit down with the interview board.
WestJet is set to introduce 10 new routes and return or extend 16 routes this summer, offering a significant increase in coast-to-coast travel options for travellers. Underpinning its growth strategy, the increases on domestic, leisure and international travel routes represent a 15 percent gain year-over-year.
A celebration has been launched to mark ‘85 Years of Flight’ at Toronto’s downtown island airport. Conceived in the 1930s as the main airport for Toronto, the construction of what is now Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport (YTZ) was completed in 1939 at the same time that Malton Airport (now Toronto Pearson International Airport) was constructed as a secondary, alternate airport to be used in the event of bad weather.
The Federal Aviation Administration is warning the US Congress not to raise the mandatory retirement age for airline pilots until the agency can study whether older pilots would raise safety risks. The House voted last year to raise the retirement age from 65 to 67 as part of a larger bill covering FAA operations.
Montreal Saint-Hubert Airport (YUH) has revealed a new brand identity, reflecting its transformation into commercial aviation as construction of its new terminal, in partnership with Porter Airlines, progresses. Located in Saint-Hubert since 1927, the airport will now be known as MET – Montreal Metropolitan Airport.
Canadian airlines are calling on the federal government to roll out measures that will spark production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in Canada and catch up to programs south of the border, thus enabling them to cut down on pollution that accounts for about two percent of carbon dioxide emissions globally, according to the International Energy Agency.
A frantic air traffic controller shouting expletives at pilots to abort a takeoff helped narrowly avert a collision with another plane in an incident at JFK New York last year, according to documents from the investigation into the incident released Monday.
Canadians can add up to 10 days in Iceland at no extra cost when travelling to Europe with PLAY via the low-cost carrier’s hub at Keflavik Airport. PLAY operates daily flights and seasonal services to more than 30 European cities from Hamilton, Ont., including its latest destination, Split, Croatia.
Faced with plane delivery delays and hefty debts – including a hefty unpaid tax bill that has prompted the Canada Revenue Agency to obtain an order for the seizure and sale of the carrier’s property – Flair Airlines says it put expansion plans on hold, at least until next year.
Over half of residents surveyed in Ontario’s Hamilton-Niagara region (55%) say that Buffalo is on their radar as a travel gateway due to less time spent than at local airports as well as lower costs, according to a new study by the Upstate New York airport. And 35 percent of residents of the Greater Toronto Area agree.
Air Canada says it has become the first airline in North America to adopt the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower program to better serve customers with non-visible disabilities. In announcing the measure, the carrier also confirmed the first appointments to its new Customer Accessibility Advisory Committee, which will guide the carrier as it accelerates its three-year accessibility plan.