Air Canada, WestJet, Transat, Sunwing and more: The latest updates amid the coronavirus pandemic
News from Travelweek Group – link to story | 17 June 2020
TORONTO — Canada’s airlines have taken swift action amid border closures and travel restrictions in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. In many cases airlines have temporarily suspended operations entirely.
Here’s the latest from Canada’s airlines. Updates will be added as soon as they become available.
LATEST UPDATE: June 16 – WestJet; June 12 – Transat; June 11 – Sunwing; June 9 – WestJet; June 4 – Flair Airlines; May 27 – Porter Airlines; May 20 – Sunwing; May 11 – Air Canada
AIR CANADA
UPDATED MAY 11: Air Canada has extended its route suspensions until at least May 31 and into early June for a large swath of its network, with some exceptions. On May 8 ACV notified the trade that Air Canada’s operating schedule for June, while certainly reduced, includes service to Cancun, Varadero, Cayo Coco, Montego Bay, Barbados, Paris, Athens and Barcelona. Updated information about route suspensions for flights within North America as well as Atlantic, Pacific, South America and Mexico/Caribbean routes can be found here.
FLAIR AIRLINES
UPDATED JUNE 4: Flair Airlines has announced that it will resume service to Kelowna and Winnipeg while delaying the launch of other destinations as part of its new summer schedule. Its current route schedule will be expanded to include both Kelowna and Winnipeg in addition to Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver. However, as a result of ongoing travel restrictions, Flair will also be delaying the launch of service into Ottawa and Atlantic Canada. Full refunds are being offered to passengers booked on cancelled flights to the affected destinations: Ottawa, Halifax, Saint John, N.B., and Charlottetown. Impacted guests will be contacted through email with instructions on how to receive their refunds. The airline’s latest change policies are at https://flyflair.com/travel-info/customer-service/covid-19-updates.
PORTER AIRLINES
UPDATED MAY 27: Porter Airlines has pushed back its temporary suspension of flights to July 29. Porter is waiving change and cancellation fees on all fares booked between May 26 and July 29. This also applies to Porter Escapes vacation packages. See https://s3.amazonaws.com/eporter.flyporter.com/Suspension/index.html.
SUNWING
UPDATED JUNE 11: Sunwing has suspended all southbound flights through July 31. Passengers with departures dates for flights or vacation packages March 17 – July 31 are eligible to receive a future travel credit for the value of the original amount paid. The credit can be redeemed against future travel to anywhere Sunwing Airlines operates for up to two years from the original departure date For departure dates Aug. 1, 2020 onwards standard terms and conditions apply to changes and cancellations. For the most up to date information see https://www.sunwing.ca/en/promotion/packages/travel-advisory/.
SWOOP
Swoop has suspended all regular international and transborder flights until May 31. Check https://www.flyswoop.com/coronavirus/ for the latest updates. Swoop’s ModiFly is included in all new bookings more than seven days from departure and free to add for existing bookings more than seven days from departure. Swoop’s repatriation flights started March 23.
TRANSAT
UPDATED JUNE 12: Transat is set to resume both its flights and tour activities starting July 23. Its new flight schedule, running through Oct. 31, will include 22 destinations in Europe, the South, the U.S. and Canada. South and Europe packages will be available, with Transat’s network of travel agencies gradually reopening starting June 15. More information for Transat can be found at https://www.airtransat.com/en-CA/book/resumption-of-our-operations#%2Fresults.
WESTJET
UPDATED JUNE 16: From July 5 through August 4, WestJet will offer operations to 45 destinations including 39 in Canada, five in the U.S. and one in Mexico. On June 1 WestJet announced it was offering refunds for select flights that include a U.S. or UK destination. The policy does not include flights within Canada or to continental Europe, Mexico or the Caribbean. If clients chose to voluntarily cancel their booking, they are not eligible for a refund to original form of payment, with some exceptions. The refunds apply to U.S. and UK flights March 1 – June 30.