Internal Flights in Canada
Canada has one major and several smaller airlines. The industry in Canada has been in turmoil over the last few years. Canada's second major airline, Canadian Airlines went bankrupt and was taken over by Air Canada - now the country's only national airline serving major and minor centres in Canada and the US and major cities worldwide. However, Air Canada itself has recently gone into bankruptcy protection and at the time of writing its future remained uncertain as its executives sought new investors.
Other competition from US and European airlines, as well as from Canada's charter airline, Air Transat. Canada 3000, formerly Canada 's biggest charter airline, went bankrupt after the September 11 terrorist attacks in the US . Most recently, a new airline called Zoom started up flights from some Canadian cities to Glasgow, London and Paris .
Domestically, three discount airlines operate and compete against Air Canada: Can Jet, which mainly services the east, JetsGo, which flies to several cities across Canada and West Jet, which mainly services the west. Air Canada has two no frill airlines, Tango in the east and Zip in the west. Of course, there are also small, regional airlines such as Bearskin Airlines and Central Mountain Air. Even with competition, airfares are not as cheap as they are in the UK, Europe or Australia. Beware: a flight from Toronto to Vancouver can cost as much or more than one from Toronto to the UK.
Not unlike elsewhere in the world, the September 11 attacks led to tighter security at airports and other ports of entry to Canada. To pay for higher security costs at airports, the Canadian government has instituted a $24 round-trip security fee for all passengers. Due to complaints that this is exorbitant, the government is considering lowering it, but not for a while yet.
