CANADA: Swoop Airline Introduces Flights From Winnipeg To Five Destinations

Swoop, a low-fare airline that’s a subsidiary of WestJet, announced on Friday it will soon be offering direct flights from Winnipeg to five new destinations.

Increased connectivity has the potential to strengthen our economy and is good for our community. With Swoop adding more routes, it shows they are confident in Winnipeg as a place to grow their business, said president and CEO of Economic Development Winnipeg Dayna Spiring.

The airline said beginning this weekend it will offer the following new flights:

- A flight between Winnipeg and Orlando will be offered two times a week, on Tuesday and Friday, beginning on Nov. 15 until April 24, 2020;

- A flight between Winnipeg and Las Vegas will be offered twice a week, on Monday and Friday, beginning on Nov. 15 until April 24, 2020;

- A flight between Winnipeg and Fort Lauderdale will be offered twice a week, on Monday and Saturday, beginning Nov. 16 until April 25, 2020;

- A flight between Winnipeg and Tampa Bay will be offered twice a week, on Thursday and Sunday, beginning Nov. 17 until April 23, 2020; and

- A flight between Winnipeg and Los Cabos, beginning on Nov. 17, will be offered one time a week until Dec. 18 and then two times a week until April 23, 2020. The flights will be offered on Wednesday and Sunday.

Swoop is a Canadian ultra low-cost carrier (ULCC) owned by WestJet. It was officially announced on September 27, 2017, and began flights on June 20, 2018.

The airline is based in Calgary, Alberta and was named after WestJet's desire to "swoop"or jump into the Canadian market with a new business model.

Shortly after launch, WestJet announced that Swoop would not be based in Calgary, but in another nearby market like Edmonton, Abbotsford, Hamilton or Winnipeg.

On February 1, 2018, Swoop officially began selling tickets to the public, announcing John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport as their main hub and Edmonton International Airport as their western hub.

Swoop operates a fleet composed entirely of Boeing 737 Next Generation aircraft, specifically the Boeing 737-800. Swoop plans to operate a fleet of six aircraft in 2018, scaling up to 10 aircraft by spring 2019.

Swoop's current fleet is equipped with Recaro BL3520 leather seats and pink antimacassars over the headrests. Each seat includes a tray-table, seat pocket, an adjustable headrest, and movable armrests.

Swoop focuses on point-to-point flying, not offering connections. In terms of destinations, Swoop's biggest hub is John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport, offering service to almost all destinations.

Swoop's western base is Edmonton International Airport. Some destinations, such as Sangster International Airport are served seasonally.

Swoop has an agreement with travel company Sunwing that allows passengers out of Hamilton, London, Abbotsford, Winnipeg and Edmonton to book Sunwing vacation packages with Swoop flights.

Winnipeggers can now book their flights through to April. More information is available on the Swoop website.

CANADA: Air Canada Signs 15 Year Lease Worth C$19 Million For Multi Tenant Facility.

Air Canada broke ground today on a new facility that will house its ground support equipment service and cargo teams at Edmonton International Airport (YEG). The new, 4,645-square-meter facility being built by Terracap Group is set to open in September 2019.

Air Canada signed a 15-year lease for the multi-tenant facility, worth C$19 million by the airline over the term of the lease. Air Canada Cargo will occupy a 1,858 square meters, while Air Canada’s ground support team will occupy the remaining 2,787 square meters.

In 2017, Air Canada Cargo handled 3.2 million kilograms of goods, including pharmaceuticals, mail, art, and oil and gas industry equipment through its Edmonton cargo facility.

Apart from the cargo facilities, the ground support portion of the new warehouse has five maintenance bays to facilitate Air Canada’s approximately 167 vehicles in use at YEG.

Edmonton is a strategic distribution point for the oil and gas industry here in the province, in this cargo facility, Kevin Howlett, Air Canada senior vice president, regional markets & government relations, said.

All of the necessary ground equipment that we use in the course of our airport operations, including our cargo operations, will be supported in this facility.

There will also be dedicated areas for specialized electrical repairs, year-round equipment painting, welding, hazardous material handling and training.

Cargo is a really important component of even the passenger flights. The more revenue per aircraft, the more additional flights we get over time.

Air Canada said its cargo handled 3.2 million kilograms of goods in 2017 through its Edmonton facility, including pharmaceuticals, mail, art and oil and gas industry equipment.

EIA said Air Canada is offering more than 290 flights each week to 12 destinations in North America this fall, including direct flights to Las Vegas and San Francisco.

In March, Air Canada announced it was launching daily, direct flight options to Las Vegas from the EIA. The flights are scheduled to begin this Sunday onboard an Air Canada Rouge A319.

In late 2017, the airline launched a plan to provide daily non-stop, flights between Edmonton and San Francisco.

There’s been a lot of development at the EIA this year, including the opening of a Costco warehouse in August, the opening of the Premium Outlet Collection EIA mall in May and a new five-storey, 135-room and suite Fairfield Inn by Marriott is under development and scheduled to be complete in early 2019.

The Supreme Court of Canada cleared the way for a class-action lawsuit against Air Canada and British Airways to proceed by dismissing an appeal by Canada's largest airline.

Air Canada had sought to overturn an October 2017 Ontario Court of Appeal ruling that the class action could include foreign claimants despite playing out in Ontario courts.

The decade-old lawsuit from three companies alleges price fixing by major airlines involved in air freight shipping between 2000 and 2006.

Linda Visser, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, says they have reached settlements totalling more than $29 million with all 14 defendants except Air Canada and British Airways.

Visser says the lawsuit involves up to tens of thousands of class members, many of them exporters and freight forwarders that handle shipments ranging from flowers to zoo animals.

The plaintiffs are Ontario's Airia Brands Inc., Britain's Startech.Com Ltd. and Germany's Quick Cargo Service.

The airline signed a 15-year lease for the facility, which is expected to open in Sept. 2019.




Tourism Observer