CONTINENTAL AIRLINES and shareholder Air Canada have announced new code-share services, beginning on 8 July. Rival Canadian Airlines International and American Airlines launched their code-sharing agreement on 1 June.
The US-Canada "open-skies" aviation pact, signed in February, allows unlimited code-sharing between the countries' airlines, with temporary limits on flights to Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver.
Under the alliance, Air Canada's code will appear on all Continental Canada-USA flights, and Continental's on certain USA-Canada flights operated by Air Canada and its regional affiliates, Air Alliance and Air Nova. Canadian Airline's code-share pact includes cross-border flights by American's regional arm, AMR Eagle.
Air Canada has launched five new transborder services since the open-skies agreement was signed, and plans to have started 20 new Canada-USA services by the end of October 1996.
The carrier intends to offer "the largest number of cross-border code-share services of any airline in Canada".
ValuJet Airlines is to discontinue services to Montreal from 11 July, citing "cultural, currency, or language differences" for the failure to generate enough business to operate its Canadian services profitably.
Source: Flight International
