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A passenger makes their way through Toronto's Pearson International Airport. The percentage of cancelled and delayed flights at Canadian airports has declined since the summer, but remains elevated. Cole Burston/The Canadian Press Air passenger volume this holiday season is poised to reach prepandemic standards, but whether Canadians are in for the normal level of peak travel stress or a repeat of the mayhem that unfolded across the country’s major airports over the summer remains unclear. Despite a slew of backlog-busting initiatives by airport authorities, some experts still see a significant risk of widespread cancellations and delays. John Gradek, co-ordinator of McGill University’s aviation management program, points to a “very real possibility” of holiday flight cancellations if airlines’ travel schedules turn out to be more ambitious than what airports can handle. While the percentage of cancelled and delayed flights at Canadian airports has declined since the summer, it r...

Canada imposes user fees on passengers and airlines that are higher than anywhere else, according to WestJet CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech. Photo illustration by the Globe and Mail /iStockPhoto / Getty Images Alexis von Hoensbroech’s airline career has spanned the globe and beyond. The new WestJet Airlines Ltd. chief executive has worked in the business in Asia and Europe, moving people and cargo in the world’s most dense and competitive markets. Before that, he obtained a doctorate at a German school that focuses on astrophysics, the galaxy and the skies above. But it was in Canada, where Mr. Hoensbroech, 52, took the helm at Calgary-based WestJet in February, that he made a surprising discovery: A vast country highly dependent on air travel imposes user fees on passengers and airlines that are out of this world. “I don’t know a single country in the world that’s as expensive as Canada. Landing fees, gate fees – this is far, far, far more expensive than any other country,” he said. Ale...

WestJet marks its first non-stop flights to Asia from Calgary as it announced a new route to Japan. The Calgary-based airline said Monday that it will fly to Tokyo’s Narita International Airport from Calgary this spring. The non-stop flights will operate seasonally three times weekly beginning April 30. The airline also announced new routes from Calgary to Barcelona and Edinburgh, starting in May 2023. In addition, flights to Dublin, London, Paris and Rome, will increase in frequency by 95 per cent in the spring. The announcement is part of the airline’s plan to raise Calgary airport’s capacity by more than 25 per cent in 2023, WestJet chief executive Alexis von Hoensbroech said in a news release. Earlier this year, WestJet announced its “new strategic direction” to refocus its fleet and routes in Western Canada. Von Hoensbroech said the airline plans to bring more affordable travel options in the new year. WestJet also said it is preparing for broader expansion within Canada and Nor...

Passengers queue for the check in desk at Heathrow airport, in London, on June 1. HANNAH MCKAY/Reuters Global airlines are predicting their first industry-wide profit since 2019 next year as air travel rebounds from COVID-19 restrictions, while a new war of words erupted with airports on Tuesday over rising air fares and ground charges. Airlines lost tens of billions of dollars in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic, but air travel has partially recovered and some airports have struggled to cope. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) now expects a net profit of $4.7-billion for the industry next year, with more than 4 billion passengers set to fly. It had previously said only that profits were “within reach” in 2023. For 2022, IATA narrowed its forecast for industry-wide losses to $6.9-billion from $9.7-billion. “That is a great achievement considering the scale of the financial and economic damage caused by government-imposed pandemic restrictions,” IATA Director General ...

A Embraer E195-E2 jet under construction. NELSON ALMEIDA/AFP/Getty Images The upstart Toronto airline with a raccoon as its mascot is poised to become a bigger pest to the larger carriers. Porter Airlines is set to receive the first of its Embraer E-195 jets this month, a 132-seat aircraft that will drive the expansion of the carrier’s network and help it compete with its mainline rivals. Michael Deluce, the chief executive officer of privately owned Porter, said the airline is targeting economy-class passengers, who comprise 90 per cent of the market, and will extend its reach to all of North America, as well as Caribbean vacation spots. Unlike its fleet of turboprops at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, the new planes will be based at Toronto Pearson International Airport, putting Porter in direct competition with Air Canada, Air Transat, WestJet Airlines and the low-cost carriers in Eastern Canada. Porter Airlines ordered to pay $130-million to operator of Toronto’s island airpor...

Travel company Transat A.T. Inc. TRZ-T closed a challenging year on a high as it set sights on a continued recovery for air travel next year with high prices and even higher demand. “We are clearly on the road to recovery, our results are improving and our confidence is growing,” Transat chief executive Annick Guerard told a conference call with investors Thursday. Guerard said the airline has capitalized on favourable demand as customers continue to prioritize travel despite inflationary pressures and higher ticket prices. “Consumers are ready to pay more to travel,” Guerard said. The tour operator said ticket prices are now 15 per cent higher than in 2019 on average. While high fuel prices, up by 61 per cent, and a weak Canadian dollar impacted the airline’s growth, Transat chief financial officer Patrick Bui said the price increase driven by demand has helped offset these additional costs. Further costs were incurred when the airline had to rehire the employees laid off during the...

Agents offer not just expertise in navigating lingering restrictions, but also have access to the inventory of multiple airlines and hotels – handy when a trip is disrupted. LM Otero/The Associated Press Barry Pilbeam had never used a travel agent before. But he decided to turn to one for a trip from Calgary to southeast Asia with his wife to make sure he was prepared for any restrictions and tricky visa situations. Their first big trip in years, they didn’t want a repeat of the last time they booked a hotel in Amsterdam that turned out to be awful. “I figured I’m not going to do that ever again and I’m going to deal with a professional and know that I’ll get what I’m looking for,” said Mr. Pilbeam, 64. “I got to use their expertise in what to do and where to go.” Now he plans to always use an agent, unless he’s familiar with the location or has friends who live at his destination. Travel agents are hearing from new customers looking for a sense of security after COVID-19 created an ...

An Air Canada aircraft covered with snow and ice is moved by a tug as a Westjet aircraft is seen being moved behind it at Vancouver International Airport in Richmond, B.C., on Dec. 21, 2022. DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press Canada’s busiest airport is braced for more travel chaos as Environment Canada forecasts a winter storm will hit Toronto starting Thursday, with rain, snow, high winds and freezing temperatures threatening people’s holiday plans. Heavy snowfalls and frigid weather in parts of Canada caused commercial flight delays and cancellations across much of Western Canada earlier this week, creating headaches for hundreds stuck in terminals such as Vancouver International Airport, which said Wednesday it was limiting international arrivals to reduce the congestion on the tarmac. The arctic cold snap that hit British Columbia on Sunday then began breaking temperature records in Alberta on Monday evening, leading to hundreds of flights being delayed or cancelled out of Edmonton ...

Travellers wait at the Pierre-Elliot Trudeau International Airport in Montreal, as the snow comes down on Dec. 23, 2022. ANDREJ IVANOV/AFP/Getty Images Flight disruptions across the country are expected to carry into the weekend, as Friday’s severe snowstorms in British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec continue to batter airports – with many travellers stranded during a peak holiday travel period. Data from live flight-tracking platform FlightAware show that at least 60 Saturday flights to and from international airports in Toronto, Vancouver and Ottawa alone have been cancelled, and a handful have been marked already as delayed. The reported disruptions are an improvement from Friday but could worsen if weather conditions do not improve. WestJet Airlines Ltd. said Friday afternoon that it would extend its cancellations into the holiday weekend, with at least 15 flights cancelled on Saturday so far. The company previously cancelled all flights in or out of Toronto Pearson International A...