16.03.2021 - 11:14 UTC
Air Transat (TS, Montréal Trudeau) urgently needs to secure CAD500 million Canadian dollars (USD401 million) in long-term financing to ensure its operations' continuity should its acquisition by Air Canada (AC, Montréal Trudeau) not go ahead, parent company Transat A.T. Inc. said in its first-quarter 2021 financial report.
Even though the Canadian government, shareholders, and the Superior Court of Québec have approved the Air Canada deal, a February 15 “outside date” deadline for a decision by the European Commission (EC) passed after it requested additional information from the parties. The EC is now expected to make a decision sometime in the first half of 2021. Air Canada has informed Transat it will not agree to an extension of the outside date. Meantime, a revised "Arrangement Agreement" between Air Canada and Transat remains in force, but each party may terminate it at any time following the stipulated terms.
“As of January 31, 2021, there exists material uncertainty that may cast significant doubt on the corporation's ability to continue as a going concern. Should the transaction...
09.02.2021 - 05:24 UTC
The chief executive of Sunwing Travel Group, Stephen Hunter, has revealed that its low-cost subsidiary Sunwing Airlines (WG, Toronto Pearson) recently received a takeover offer, but the potential buyer’s name could not be disclosed.
Hunter told The Globe and Mail newspaper that “we have been approached recently” but could not provide detailed information due to a confidentiality agreement signed by both parties.
He also mentioned that the integrated and interdependent nature of Sunwing’s divisions may complicate any sale. Besides Sunwing Airlines, the company operates 45 resorts in the Caribbean and Mexico, a luxury charter jet service, and other vacation brands. Hunter’s family owns 51% of the group, which employs around 3,000 people in Canada, and TUI Group owns 49%.
“The airline is a vehicle in order to get our package customer from point A to point B. So our airline really is a cost department within our tour operator. Therefore, one really can’t go without the other. And, of course, Sunwing Vacations provides about 30% of the customers to our own hotels.”
Hunter...
08.02.2021 - 02:23 UTC
Air Canada rouge (RV, Toronto Pearson) paused its operations from February 8 until further notice and temporarily laid off 80 employees as a result of a travel ban on all flights to Mexico and the Caribbean imposed by the Canadian government as part of tough new restrictions to clamp-down on new strains of COVID-19.
The low-cost subsidiary of Air Canada (AC, Montréal Trudeau) already suspended flights last year at the height of the first wave of the pandemic but resumed services in November in anticipation of the winter travel season.
“As a result of our suspension of all flights to the Caribbean and Mexico at the request of the Canadian government, we are again pausing our 'rouge' operations effective February 8 as these flights are primarily operated by 'rouge',” Air Canada said in a statement. The airline said the decision meant that about 80 employees would be placed on temporary layoff. “Rouge remains a part of Air Canada's overall business strategy," the airline said.
At the request of the federal government, Canadian...
04.02.2021 - 06:39 UTC
Thousands of jobs may have been saved at Sunwing Vacations Inc. and its low-cost subsidiary Sunwing Airlines (WG, Toronto Pearson) after North America’s largest travel group was granted a CAD375 million Canadian dollar (USD293.2 million) loan by the Canada Enterprise Emergency Funding Corporation (CEEFC).
Sunwing Airlines and Sunwing Vacations together provide almost 3,000 Canadians with full-time jobs. The loan, of which CAD50 million (USD39 million) was drawn on February 1, is granted under the Large Employer Emergency Financing Facility (LEEFF) to protect jobs in Canada’s airline sector.
In return for the loan, Sunwing has agreed to maintain an account with money received from customers for travel that was cancelled by either Sunwing or the customer due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This account will be maintained until the Canadian government’s broader discussions with the airline industry conclude and a policy is established for the treatment of these prepaid amounts.
CEEFC is a federal Crown corporation established last year that is wholly-owned by the Canada Development Investment Corporation (CDEV). It administers the LEEFF loans which aim to...
