Canada 3000 flags off direct Toronto-New Delhi service

Sanjay Sardana

Toronto, Oct 17: Canada 3000 has started its direct non-stop flight between Toronto and Delhi on schedule, but is likely to postpone its proposed flight from Toronto to Mumbai via London by a month to December. Canada’s second largest scheduled airline has already cancelled the Delhi-Vancover flight.

The airline, however, is seriously looking at starting a direct flight to Amritsar to service the huge Punjabi community based in Canada.
“We are thinking of rescheduling the Toronto-Mumbai flight, which is now likely to commence operations in December as a result of poor response post-terrorist attacks in the US,” Canada 3000 president Angus J Kinnear told The Financial Express.

“As far as the flight to Amristar is concerned, we have received request from NRI’s based in Canada to start a direct flight, but as per the agreement with the Indian Government, Canada 3000 has signed up for Delhi and Mumbai sectors only. But, we
will take up the issue with the Indian government,” Mr Kinnear
said.

Canada 3000 has also tied up with Travel Corporation of India (TCI) and a local company in Amritsar for tour bookings, which will also be the general sales agents (GSA) for Canada 3000 in India. As per the arrangement, Canada 3000’s responsibility will be to get tourists, while TCI will arrange for local tour bookings in India.

Unlike most of the other airlines in the world, Canada 3000 is not going ahead with laying-off any of its 4,400 employees, but is instead reducing the number of working hours.

“We have reduced the number of working hours for our staff by almost 25 per cent and are hoping for the situation to improve. Cutting down the number of working hours will help us reduce operating cost,” Mr Kinnear said.

(Travel for this story was sponsored by Canada 3000 Airlines)