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January 2024 Air Canada AIR


Customers Can Now Track their Baggage and Mobility Aids while Travelling in Canada have


Canada


introduced a new feature to the Air Canada mobile app to enable customers traveling within Canada to track the progress of their baggage and mobility aid in real time at key points as it moves with them throughout their journey.


The


new tracking feature is designed to provide travellers


with overall added


confidence and improve the


that customer


experience through greater convenience. “At Air Canada, we know apart from a


safe,


comfortable journey, the prompt delivery of baggage and mobility aids is a top priority for our customers. We already achieve a very high reliability rate, but to further elevate our service we are introducing a new tracking feature in the Air Canada mobile app to give customers real-time information, greater certainty about the movement of their belongings during their trip,


convenience,” said Tom Stevens,


Using the Air Canada mobile app,


and heightened Vice President,


Customer Experience and Operations Strategy at Air Canada.


customers


can now track their baggage and mobility aid as it travels with them on domestic flights, based on the same tag scanning information


that to customers Air


Canada employees use at each stage to handle these items.


Initially available travelling


within Canada during final development, the tracking feature will be expanded to the airline’s U.S. flights next year and, over time, select international destinations.


New Rules Introduced at Popular Tourist Destination


PERU has announced it will increase the number of tourists who can visit Machu Picchu each day.


Currently, only 3,800 tourists are allowed to access the site each day but this will now increase to 4,500 from January.


There are plans to possibly increase the number of visitors to 5,600 on specific dates of the year. Tourists are generally allowed


to explore the site for up to four hours under tight rules introduced to protect the site.


Vueling Hits the Skies with New Winter Menu


VUELING, part of IAG, and partnering with Newrest Travel


including new plant-based


Heüra, meat


a


burger to add to its healthy menu options, Dr Pawpaw ethical cosmetics, and in a first for the European aviation sector, Edgard and Cooper dog treats now available to purchase on board.


Always looking for new ways to improve the customer experience, the new offering will


Retail, has revealed its new menu for winter 2024


once again entice clients with a selection of sumptuous healthy meal options that will include a special meat-free burger from their new plant-based meat partner, Heüra. This addition adds to the many healthy vegan and vegetarian options already available on board such as cous cous with vegetables and Spanish tortilla with


breadsticks.


The new menu also features several gluten-free options that cater for fliers with coeliac intolerance.


Ryanair Puts 37 Million Seats on Sale for Summer 2024


RYANAIR has officially launched its summer 2024 schedule with over 37 million seats for UK holidaymakers.


The schedule takes-off from the end of March


2024. Ryanair’s Head of Communications, Jade Kirwan, said: “We are pleased to announce our summer 2024 schedule with over 37 million seats available for our UK customers across a host of amazing destinations.”


Ryanair Denys Claims About ‘New Fee’


Ryanair Exposes Online Travel Agents Who


Overcharge for Ryanair Baggage and Allocated Seats FOLLOWING Ryanair’s Nov OTA pirate scams and overcharges survey which showed Kiwi.com as the no.1 pirate in Nov, overcharging customers by a hefty 344% for


claimed the top prize for digital piracy in Dec, its fellow


pirate made the €5.50 Ryanair, allocated seats, has released its


Dec OTA pirate survey, which revealed Super Saver as the no.1 pirate in Dec, overcharging customers by a staggering 252% for a 10kg bag that costs €24.99 on Ryanair.com.


said:


In a statement, Ryanair “While


Super Saver


off podium’ priority


OTAs ‘consumer


also rip-


with Kiwi.


com overcharging by 203% for


boarding and


eDreams overcharging 100% for a 10kg bag.


“The most conniving of all is the fake “premium service charge” of €30 that both Kiwi.com and Opodo are overcharging on a non- existent “service”.


“It is unacceptable that pirate OTAs


continue to


prey on unsuspecting consumers with unjustified fees and charges for invented services,


while


at the same time grossly overcharging customers for ancillary services which are competitively priced on Ryanair.com.


Ryanair


continues to campaign for consumers to be protected from these overcharging and mis-selling OTA pirates and calls again on Govts and consumer agencies to take immediate


action to OTA internet piracy.”


Ryanair Attempt to Cut Out Customer Scams with New Customer Verification


RYANAIR has introduced a new quick and easy customer account verification initiative to protect customers from malicious technology scams. Now, new myRyanairaccount users will be required to complete a once-off, free of charge account verification which takes less than 30 seconds and is similar to the existing verification process on AirBnB and Revolut.


Airbus Might Need European Backing for New Aircraft


Programme: The head


of Airbus


has said the group “might need some support” from European governments for a new,


multibillion-


dollar commercial air craf t programme.


Chief Executive Guillaume Faury said


that Airbus


could ask for taxpayer backing to launch a single- aisle aircraft and a shorter-range, hydrogen-powered plane.


Airbus is receiving some research funding from European governments to explore technologies for a plane


that could


replace the A320 narrow-body aircraft in the second part of the next decade. It is also working on a shorter-range hydrogen-powered aircraft expected to enter service in 2035.


ETIHAD Airways and TAP Air Portugal have agreed a strategic codeshare, unlocking


enhanced


connectivity for the passengers of both airlines on a range of destinations within each other’s networks. This agreement is the latest in Etihad’s objective to strengthen Abu Dhabi’s cultural and economic growth by welcoming more guests to its home enjoying heightened


Etihad


Announces New Flights to the Dream Island of BALI!


travel benefits and even more cherished experiences. This partnership will provide Etihad’s customers with easy one-stop access to a variety of captivating destinations across the TAP network. These include iconic cities such as Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo in Brazil, as well as San Francisco and Miami in the USA. Additionally, the enchanting African resort island of São Tomé is among the picturesque


ETIHAD Airways will start flying non-stop to Bali from its Abu Dhabi hub four times a week from 23 April 2024.


Antonoaldo Neves, CEO of Etihad Airways, said: “We are thrilled to


locations available through this collaboration, and customers can also connect with Madeira, Malaga, Seville, and Valencia in Europe, as well as Marrakech and Dakar in Africa.


The codeshare lets guests streamline their journeys by making a single booking with one check-in process at the start and the added convenience of having their baggage seamlessly transferred to their final destination.


announce our first-ever flights to Bali. This exciting development follows closely on the heels of our dynamic Summer 2024 schedule, reinforcing our dedication to expanding our network.”


stop


RYANAIR has denied there is a new fee for e-boarding passes after claims emerged across social media with some saying they have been charged up to £21 for the pass.


The claims suggests the low-coast airline is asking passengers to book a seat, which costs between £7 and £21 before they can download their boarding pass. If they do not book a seat, they have to queue for a pass at the airport. In a statement, a spokesperson for Ryanair


said: “There is no charge for a Ryanair digital boarding pass – ever. All Ryanair passengers can pay for a reserved seat if they so wish or if passengers wish to avoid this seat fee, they can select a randomly allocated seat entirely free of charge.”


Ryanair Welcomes High Court Ruling Confirming Screenscraping is Unlawful


RYANAIR has welcomed the judgement of the Irish High Court granting a permanent injunction prohibiting screenscraper Flightbox from breaching the binding Terms of Use of the Ryanair website by using bot technology to unlawfully scrape Ryanair’s website for OTAs. A statement from the low-cost airline said:


“Ryanair has long campaigned to protect customers from price gouging by OTAs who continue to dupe unsuspecting consumers by unlawfully scraping Ryanair’s website, including by overcharging for air fares and ancillary services, using fake customer accounts, fake customer payment cards and fake customer emails.”


Etihad and TAP Portugal Codeshare Opens Up Exciting New Destinations


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