Aviation

The number of safety incidents on Canadian runways is on the rise, having reached new highs in recent years even as the tally of extremely close calls seems to be levelling off. Data from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada shows that so-called runway incursions – when a plane, vehicle or person winds up on or near a runway when they shouldn’t be – hit a record 639 in 2024, the latest full year for which the watchdog has statistics.

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines celebrated the 40th anniversary of its service connecting Vancouver International Airport (YVR) and Amsterdam Schiphol (AMS) on April 2.

WestJet says it will be introducing a temporary $60 surcharge for certain bookings and has consolidated numerous flights due to skyrocketing fuel prices. The moves come as some U.S. carriers have also announced higher checked baggage fees to cover the increasing fuel costs.

Air Canada will fly to several new destinations for the Winter 2026-27 season, including the only non-stop flights from North America to Tenerife in the Canary Islands (beginning Oct. 25 and 31 respectively from Toronto and Montreal). The flights will operate seasonally.

Citing unpaid work as a key issue, the union representing approximately 360 WestJet Encore cabin crew members, has officially served Notice to Bargain a new Collective Agreement.

Sunwing Vacations has released its 2026 summer schedule, featuring flight options from key gateways across Canada to a wide range of popular sun destinations across Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America. including Cancun, Puerto Vallarta, Los Cabos, Punta Cana, Montego Bay and more.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released its 2025 Annual Safety Report demonstrating “a solid year of safety performance” and continuing overall improvement, despite some blips.

Porter Airlines has announced plans to offer flights on a dozen routes from the revitalized Montreal Metropolitan Airport (MET). The airline says flights to and from the airport in Longueuil, Que., on Montreal’s south shore will begin on June 15.

A fatal collision between an Air Canada jet and a fire truck at LaGuardia Airport late Sunday has drawn attention to the demands that a strained navigation system places on traffic controllers, and how even strict protocols failed to prevent tragedy.

Singapore Changi Airport has been named the World’s Best Airport 2026 – again – in the prestigious World Airport Awards, held last week in London. Notably, Vancouver was named the best airport in the world of its size (20-30 million passengers) and 10th overall (all sizes) in the Awards’ pre-eminent best-overall category, leading a trio Canadian airport rankings in the top 100.

Major U.S. airlines say they are not expecting a significant dent in quarterly profits despite soaring jet fuel costs tied to the war in the Middle East adding hundreds of millions of dollars in expenses. That because strong ticket sales are helping offset those higher costs, executives from Delta Air Lines, American Airlines and United Airlines told investors this week, with all three carriers reporting record bookings this year.

WestJet and Air Transat are extending their suspension of flights to Cuba, which was struggling with an island-wide blackout this week amid a ballooning energy crisis.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released its Long-Term Demand Projections (LTDP) for air travel, showing that global air passenger demand is expected to more than double by 2050.

With jet fuel prices rising above $100 as the war in the Middle East disrupts global oil supplies, the cost pressure on airlines intensifies as the summer travel season approaches. Experts say it’s not a question of if airfares will go up, but when, for how long and by how much. The impact may be felt most on long-haul international routes, which burn significantly more fuel than shorter flights.

Starting June 15, the Ontario communities of Niagara, Sarnia and Muskoka will be linked directly to Toronto Pearson International Airport thanks to extended Air Canada Landline luxury motorcoach service.

Airlines across the globe have started to hike fares and fuel surcharges in response surging oil prices sparked by the war in Iran, and Canada is no exception. Several carriers indicated this week that higher ticket prices are likely – or already a reality – thanks to cost pressures caused by fallout from the conflict, which entered its 12th day on Wednesday.

Twelve years after Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 vanished with 239 people aboard, a renewed deep-sea search in the southern Indian Ocean has so far failed to locate the missing aircraft, Malaysian authorities say, as families press for the effort to continue.

Transat A.T. Inc. shareholders have rejected media magnate Pierre Karl Péladeau’s bid to seize effective control of the company’s board on Tuesday, opting instead to stay the course.

American Airlines has received approval to become the first U.S. airline to resume flights to Venezuela. Even though the State Department continues to warn Americans not to travel to the South American country, the government cleared the way for the airline to begin scheduling flights there.

Long-awaited, much anticipated U.S. preclearance operations open today (March 10) at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) facility requires all travellers to complete U.S. immigration, customs, and agriculture inspections before departure. The result – a faster, more seamless arrival in the United States.

Air Canada’s first of 45 updated Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft has entered service at Rouge, marking the latest step in the carrier’s comprehensive cabin renewal program across the fleet. The rest of the aircraft are expected to transition to Rouge by the end of the year.

Most passengers boarding a flight on a cold winter morning don’t give much thought to the trucks and equipment moving around their aircraft. Among them are de-icing teams – carrying out a procedure that is absolutely essential to flight safety in cold weather.

Media magnate Pierre Karl Péladeau has failed to convince a pair of leading proxy advisory firms to back his bid to overhaul the board at Transat A.T. Inc. and seize effective control of the travel company.

Calling it ‘a new era of long-haul’ travel, Air Canada has announced the next phase of its fleet modernization program with the purchase of the Airbus A350-1000 widebody aircraft. The airline will add eight of the aircraft to its fleet and has rights to buy eight more with deliveries scheduled to begin in the second half of 2030.

A new destination in Austin, Texas, plus an updated presence in Chicago at O’Hare International Airport are among the highlights as Porter Airlines adds two airports and three routes to its growing North American network.

Air Canada and Turkish-based Pegasus Airlines have announced a new interline agreement that will enable clients to book travel on nine Pegasus-operated routes to Istanbul and the Aegean coastal city of Izmir via several major European gateways.