Neha Jain: http://canadaaviationnews.blogspot.com/5

1. Air Canada moves to protect Mumbai route
Air Canada (AC.B-T3.240.061.89%) has renewed its partnership with Jet Airways (India) Ltd., a strategic move designed to keep their Canada-India route competitive against Emirates Airline.

Effective Feb. 21, a new three-year pact kicks in, ensuring that travellers will be able to continue booking seats on an Air Canada plane from Toronto to connect onto Jet at London’s Heathrow Airport, from where Jet then flies to Mumbai. Air Canada and its Star Alliance partner, Germany’s Deutsche Lufthansa AG, also serve the Canada-India market through their Frankfurt hub.

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Air Canada signed its first partnership pact with Mumbai-based Jet in 2008, clearing the way for the carriers to sell tickets on each other’s flights on the Toronto-Mumbai route. But Emirates, which launched its Toronto-Dubai service in October, 2007, introduced the Airbus A380 double-decker aircraft to the route in mid-2009, stepping up the battle against Air Canada and its allies.

Emirates, owned by the Dubai government, competes for passengers by offering service between Toronto and India via the Gulf carrier’s Dubai hub. Last fall, Ottawa rejected requests from the United Arab Emirates for more Canadian landing slots. Emirates currently has three flights a week on the Toronto-Dubai route, but wants daily landing rights at Canada’s largest city.

Emirates has said that its expanded presence in Canada would broaden consumer choice and generate a wide range of spinoff benefits for the Canadian economy.

But Air Canada needs to shield the Canada-India air corridor from further incursions by Emirates because the Montreal-based carrier is eyeing non-stop service to New Delhi, said Rick Erickson, an aviation consultant who heads Calgary-based RP Erickson & Associates.

In 2007, Air Canada cancelled its own Toronto-New Delhi service, through Zurich, but Mr. Erickson said the economics will be vastly improved when the Boeing 787 Dreamliner is introduced within three years to the fleet of Canada’s biggest carrier.

The fuel-efficient 787 will make sense for long-haul flights that were uneconomic in the past, when Air Canada deployed gas-guzzling planes that had too many seats to be profitable for certain foreign markets, notably India, he said in an interview Friday.

Air Canada expects to start receiving Boeing 787s by late 2013, though it could be delayed into 2014, given production snags at the aircraft maker, analysts say. In the meantime, until the Dreamliner arrives, Air Canada is keen to keep Emirates at bay.

“The 787 is going to be a real game changer for Air Canada, but the airline needs to protect its market share on the Indian subcontinent because Emirates wants to take traffic away,” Mr. Erickson said.

On Friday, Air Canada reported that its transatlantic routes saw a 4.1-per-cent increase in traffic in January, compared with the same month in 2010. Over all, Air Canada’s worldwide load factor – the proportion of available seats filled by paying customers – climbed to 78 per cent in January, up from 77.5 per cent a year earlier. Air Canada’s monthly traffic, including routes flown by regional affiliate Jazz Air LP, gained 9.1 per cent and its seat capacity increased 8.4 per cent.

The Air Greenland aircraft might become a familiar sight in St. John's if the airline decides to eastablish a direct link between Canada.

The Air Greenland aircraft might become a familiar sight in St. John's if the airline decides to eastablish a direct link between Canada.

2. Airline may link St. John's and Greenland

St. John's is one of three destinations being considered for the establishment of a new direct route between Canada and Greenland.

Air Greenland is also looking at Halifax and Iqaluit for its new air link with North America.

Representatives from the company will be visiting the Canadian airports later this month. Air Greenland's Udo Glashoff said the company is going to do its homework before making a decision.

"I think the most important thing is that in the long run the passengers get a good product regarding travel time and price," said Glashoff.

Kenn Harper, Denmark's honorary consul in Nunavut, said Labrador may also see more air traffic if an air link is established.

Happy Valley-Goose Bay would be a refuelling stop, according to Harper. He said he has been lobbying for a new route between Iqaluit and Nuuk — the capital of Greenland — since First Air discontinued scheduled flights across the Davis Strait in 2001.

Harper said Greenland's booming mining, oil and gas industries have prompted Air Greenland to turn its attention to Canada, where some of the same companies operate.

"Mineral exploration and also the offshore business is coming to Greenland and it's giving some new opportunities for traffic between the countries," said Glashoff.

He said Air Greenland hopes to start the new route next summer.

3.Air Canada indefinitely postpones flights to Tokyo's Haneda airport
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Air Canada has indefinitely put on hold its plan to start a daily service between Tokyo's Haneda airport and Vancouver because demand, particularly from higher-paying business travelers, has fallen short of projections, airline officials said Friday.

The Canadian airline may consider starting the flight if it manages to secure a better slot for landing and takeoff than the current one at Haneda, which opened for full-fledged international flights last year, according to the officials. The airline was assigned slots late at night, they said.

The company had originally planned to start the service in late January but delayed it to March 5 before the latest postponement.

For customers who have made reservations for flights between Haneda and Vancouver, the carrier is arranging for them to switch to other flights, the officials said.

A major travel agency said it has been forced to cancel tours that were supposed to use the planned Haneda-Vancouver flights.

4.UPDATE 2-WestJet boosts capacity in January as demand up

* January load factor 77.8 pct vs year-earlier 78.8 pct

* Traffic up 9.7 percent, capacity climbs 11.2 pct

* Sees improved pricing, demand, business bookings (Adds company comments, stock price)

OTTAWA, Feb 3 (Reuters) - WestJet Airlines Ltd (WJA.TO), Canada's No. 2 carrier, said on Thursday that it boosted capacity in January, resulting in it flying slightly emptier planes than it did the year before.

WestJet said demand for air travel is rising and so are prices, allowing it to increase capacity. It said it was also encouraged by growth in business bookings.

The Calgary-based airline said its load factor, the percentage of available seats filled with paying customers, fell to 77.8 percent from 78.8 percent in January 2010 due to the higher number of seats available.

Load factor is a key industry measurement. It was the second-highest for the month of January in WestJet's history, the company said.

"Our capacity additions continue to be absorbed and we are happy with our strong January load factor," WestJet Chief Executive Gregg Saretsky said in a statement.

Traffic, or revenue passenger miles, rose 9.7 percent, while capacity, or available seat miles, increased by 11.2 percent from the year-prior period.

Shares of WestJet, which reports quarterly financial results on Feb. 9, were unchanged at C$13.28 on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Thursday morning.

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