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Glasgow Airport Wins Back Daily Flights to Canada Travel Firm Increases Service After Link Axed

Posted on: Thursday, 27 October 2005, 18:01 CDT

By DAVID LEASK Chief Reporter

GLASGOW Airport has won back its daily flights to Toronto - just a day after losing them.

Canadian Affair will increase its service to the city to one flight a day next summer.

And Zoom Airlines, after talks with First Minister Jack McConnell, will also raise frequencies on its flights from two to three a week next summer.

The flights will replace the service previously offered by Air Canada, which, as revealed in last night's Evening Times, is pulling out of Scotland after 60 years.

Air Canada claimed it dropped Glasgow because of schedule changes. But the airline faced fierce competition from Canadian Affair, a Glasgow-based firm which offers flights on a Thomas Cook Airlines jet, Zoom and Air Transat.

Canadian Affair had planned to fly to Toronto five times a week this summer. The Air Canada pull-out prompted it to load two extra flights a week from June 27 to September 20.

Air Canada flew daily from Glasgow to Toronto from May to October.

Kathryn Munro, of Canadian Affair, said: "We are delighted to be the sole daily operators on the Glasgow to Toronto service for summer 2006.

"Our fares have been 50-per cent lower than Air Canada's for a very long time and we are delighted that both Scots and Canadians will no longer be ripped off by high fares."

Zoom, the airline of Scots travel entrepreneurs John and Hugh Boyle, played host to Mr McConnell in Ottawa yesterday.

John Boyle said: "This demonstrates our commitment to provide year round low-cost scheduled and direct services from Glasgow to Canada.

"I was delighted to tell Mr McConnell that we have tremendous support from the public both in Canada and Scotland. It shows how close the ties are between our two countries."

Toronto is the second most popular long-haul destination from Glasgow after Dubai.

Long-haul flights in and out of Scotland's biggest city have helped make the airport an international success story.

Glasgow also retained its position as Scotland's favourite airport when it announced recordbreaking figures after it handled almost 1million passengers last month, making September its busiest ever.

It has handled almost 9million passengers so far this year - 400,000 more than Edinburgh.

Delighted airport bosses said that long-haul services had performed particularly well.

david. leask@eveningtimes. co. uk

Source: Evening Times; Glasgow (UK)

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