Post by Eagle on Nov 25, 2008 22:08:20 GMT -5
In a recent news release, www.airtransat.ca/en/index.aspx has announced new direct flights to several European destinations from Vancouver. They will begin offering Vancouver-Barcelona-Madrid service weekly June 4 to October 8, and also weekly Vancouver-Rome service from May 29 to October 9. In addition from May 3 to October 18, Air Transat will offer twice weekly Toronto-Athens direct flights. At the present time, they will be the only airline offering non-stop service from Vancouver to Rome and Barcelona, using a newly-reconfigured Airbus A330.
With the addition of these new routes, Air Transat has more direct flights to Western Europe than any other Canadian airline. Previously the airline has flown from major Canadian cities to sun destinations in the winter and European destinations in the summer. They have reportedly made a partnership arrangement with WestJet for discounted connector flights from selected Canadian cities in the region, to allow passengers to take advantage of these new non-stop European flights. In addition to flights, their Transat Holidays branch provides a wide variety of holiday packages which include accommodations, excursions, cruises, transfers, car rentals and daily breakfast packages.
I've used Air Transat on several trips in the past, and always found them to be quite reliable and the service reasonably good. In my experience with them so far, I've found that passengers were packed in fairly tightly, so the ride was a bit uncomfortable on long flights (not sure what the seat pitch is in the economy section?). However, according to a recent announcement on their web site at least some of their fleet is being re-configured and seats removed to provide greater leg room. Given the number of destinations they service in Europe, it's possible to find lots of "open jaw" combinations.
These new flights will be a great addition for those in Western Canada and the U.S.!
Happy travels!
(*One note - AFAIK their safety record is excellent, except for the unfortunate "glider incident" in the Azores a number of years ago. Thankfully they were able to make a safe landing).
With the addition of these new routes, Air Transat has more direct flights to Western Europe than any other Canadian airline. Previously the airline has flown from major Canadian cities to sun destinations in the winter and European destinations in the summer. They have reportedly made a partnership arrangement with WestJet for discounted connector flights from selected Canadian cities in the region, to allow passengers to take advantage of these new non-stop European flights. In addition to flights, their Transat Holidays branch provides a wide variety of holiday packages which include accommodations, excursions, cruises, transfers, car rentals and daily breakfast packages.
I've used Air Transat on several trips in the past, and always found them to be quite reliable and the service reasonably good. In my experience with them so far, I've found that passengers were packed in fairly tightly, so the ride was a bit uncomfortable on long flights (not sure what the seat pitch is in the economy section?). However, according to a recent announcement on their web site at least some of their fleet is being re-configured and seats removed to provide greater leg room. Given the number of destinations they service in Europe, it's possible to find lots of "open jaw" combinations.
These new flights will be a great addition for those in Western Canada and the U.S.!
Happy travels!
(*One note - AFAIK their safety record is excellent, except for the unfortunate "glider incident" in the Azores a number of years ago. Thankfully they were able to make a safe landing).
