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They have them at LGW as well - it's ridiculously easy. Only usable by citizens of certain countries though.

AoD

I wish they had them in 2017 when I went through LGW. The line was so long when I got off my flight, I contemplated using my EU Passport upon arrival (as opposed the the Canadian one I departed with).
 
I wish they had them in 2017 when I went through LGW. The line was so long when I got off my flight, I contemplated using my EU Passport upon arrival (as opposed the the Canadian one I departed with).

Doesn't help that LGW is a pretty awful airport - it felt like being whisked back to the 80s - but with all the commercialism that is de rigeur in our age. For all the complaints, it even compared badly against our T3 (nevermind T1).

AoD
 
Doesn't help that LGW is a pretty awful airport - it felt like being whisked back to the 80s - but with all the commercialism that is de rigeur in our age. For all the complaints, it even compared badly against our T3 (nevermind T1).

AoD

I went there because it was Air Transat, it was cheap and had connections to Central London. In retrospect I should have gone through Heathrow.
 
They have them at LGW as well - it's ridiculously easy. Only usable by citizens of certain countries though.

AoD

Yes same at LHR. Only citizens of certain countries like USA, AUS,NZ, Singapore and Canada can use it. DXB has retina scans also but sometimes they will randomly send you to a customs agent.
 
I used those in Gatwick just recently. So much easier to use those to get through Customs then the lineup of 30+ at Halifax regional for 2 customs officers. As long as you were semi computer literate it worked like a charm and super convenient.

Gatwick actually just did a whole renovation on its (north?) terminal during covid so it was essentially a new looking terminal. Being my first time through I didn't have anything to compare it to though. Now Luton, that's a terrible airport. It still has the early 2000's look I seen on the hit British TV show airport freakouts.
 
An update from Air Canada - July and August schedules being reduced:

Air Canada
Dear
At Air Canada, we know how important travel plans are. This is even more the case today when many are taking their first trip in years following the pandemic. Whether for long‑anticipated vacations, visits with relatives and friends, or for business, we are grateful and recognize our responsibility when people like you entrust your travel to our airline.

Regrettably, things are not business as usual in our industry globally, and this is affecting our operations and our ability to serve you with our normal standards of care. The COVID‑19 pandemic brought the world air transport system to a halt in early 2020. Now, after more than two years, global travel is resurgent, and people are returning to flying at a rate never seen in our industry.

This surge in travel has created unprecedented and unforeseen strains on all aspects of the global aviation system. Around the world, there are recurring incidents of flight delays and airport congestion, resulting from a complex array of persistent factors impacting airlines and our partners in the aviation ecosystem. Similar effects are being seen in other industries too, where companies and suppliers are struggling to restart, unclog supply chains and meet pent‑up demand.

At Air Canada, we anticipated many of these factors and began taking tangible action during the depth of the pandemic to be ready for a rapid restart. Yet, despite detailed and careful planning, the largest and fastest scale of hiring in our history, as well as investments in aircraft and equipment, it is now clear that Air Canada’s operations too have been disrupted by the industry’s complex and unavoidable challenges. The result has been flight cancellations and customer service shortfalls on our part that we would never have intended for our customers or for our employees, and for which we sincerely apologize.

In response, we took a number of important steps, including introducing flexible ticket policies, new travel self-management tools, improvements to airport operations, as well adjustments to our schedule ‑ all to strengthen operational resiliency and to give customers more options. However, to bring about the level of operational stability we need, with reluctance, we are now making meaningful reductions to our schedule in July and August in order to reduce passenger volumes and flows to a level we believe the air transport system can accommodate.

This was not an easy decision, as it will result in additional flight cancellations that will have a negative impact on some customers. But doing this in advance allows affected customers to take time to make other arrangements in an orderly manner, rather than have their travel disrupted shortly before or during their journey, with few alternatives available. It will also enable us to more reliably serve all customers.

I can assure you Air Canada is also working in close cooperation with airports, government, and its third‑party service providers, who all are striving to return our industry to pre‑pandemic standards of operation.

We are convinced these changes will bring about the improvements we have targeted. But to set expectations, it should also be understood the real benefits of this action will take time and be felt only gradually as the industry regains the reliability and robustness it had attained prior to the pandemic.

On behalf of all of us at Air Canada, please accept my sincere apologies for any disruption you have experienced or may experience with your travel plans during this unprecedented period. I also assure you that we very clearly see the challenges at hand, that we are taking action, and that we are confident we have the strategy to address them. This is our company’s chief focus at every level.

Thank you for your patience and understanding. We certainly look forward to future opportunities to serve you and regain your loyalty at a time when we can better demonstrate our commitment to taking good care of customers such as yourself.

Sincerely,
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Michael Rousseau
President and Chief Executive Officer
Air Canada​
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To ensure delivery to your i​
 
Something had to give. The entire system would have collapsed within a matter of weeks with peak summer travel if the airlines did nothing.
 
Something had to give. The entire system would have collapsed within a matter of weeks with peak summer travel if the airlines did nothing.

Anyone could have foreseen the pent-up demand but what they could not have foreseen was when Covid would let up. They plan for things almost a year out, not a month out and a year ago nobody knew what restrictions would be like.

Keep in mind too that there are legal limits to how much airline employees can fly. They may want to put more service but if the onboard staff have maxed out their hours they cannot. This is not something they can just ignore, they are there for a reason to ensure people do not fall asleep at the wheel.
 
Anyone could have foreseen the pent-up demand but what they could not have foreseen was when Covid would let up. They plan for things almost a year out, not a month out and a year ago nobody knew what restrictions would be like.

Keep in mind too that there are legal limits to how much airline employees can fly. They may want to put more service but if the onboard staff have maxed out their hours they cannot. This is not something they can just ignore, they are there for a reason to ensure people do not fall asleep at the wheel.

Agreed. I wasn't blaming the airlines. I was just saying if no one did anything, delays would have gotten to a point causing a full gridlock.
 
Anyone could have foreseen the pent-up demand but what they could not have foreseen was when Covid would let up. They plan for things almost a year out, not a month out and a year ago nobody knew what restrictions would be like.

Covid hasn't really "let up". It's still causing people to miss work. Wastewater levels of Covid are increasing in Ontario again. There are newer Omicron variants becoming dominant... Hopefully we never get back to travel restrictions, but you never know.

I have booked a trip to Europe in September, so I'm not all doom and gloom. But I'll fly with my N95 on.
 
My cousin definitely got shafted by this latest reduction. He was supposed to connect at yvr via ac from Taiwan but that flight just got axed. Fortunately west jet was able to save his trip
 

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