Sunwing Airlines
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This article relies on references to primary sources or sources affiliated with the subject, rather than references from independent authors and third-party publications. Please add citations from reliable sources. (November 2011) |
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| Founded | 2005 | |||
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| Hubs | Toronto Pearson Int'l Airport Montréal-Trudeau Int'l Airport |
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| Fleet size | 23 | |||
| Destinations | 69 | |||
| Company slogan | Fly better! Experience the difference! | |||
| Parent company | Sunwing Travel Group | |||
| Headquarters | Toronto, Ontario | |||
| Key people | Colin Hunter (Chairman) Stephen Hunter (President and CEO) Mark Williams (President) |
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| Website | www.flysunwing.com | |||
Sunwing Airlines Inc. is an airline headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, offering scheduled and chartered services to Canada, the United States, Mexico, the Caribbean, Europe, Central America, South America as well as domestic services during the summer season. It is a subsidiary of Sunwing Travel Group and a sister company to Sunwing Vacations/Vacances Sunwing, Signature Vacations/Vacances Signature as well as SellOffVacations, Canada's largest discount travel retailer.[1] Its main Canadian bases are at Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport, Toronto Pearson International Airport and Vancouver International Airport. The airline also has operations at Calgary International Airport and Québec/Jean Lesage International Airport. It is also the only airline which offers nonstop flights to Mexico, Cuba and the Dominican Republic departing from Bagotville Airport, Val-d'Or Airport and Sept-Îles Airport.
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[edit] History
Sunwing Vacations started its in-house airline in November 2005 using Boeing 737-800s to operate flights from Canada to the USA, Mexico, the Caribbean, as well as domestic flights. Since then, its President is Mark Williams, who previously was President of Skyservice and had also worked with Wardair and Canadian Airlines.[citation needed]
Sunwing Airlines merged with Signature and SellOffVacations on September 29, 2009, consequently signing a partnership deal with UK-based TUI Travel.
In December 2010 parent company Sunwing Travel Group acquired Caribbean Nexus Tours, one of the leading ground handlers and incoming tour operator in the Dominican Republic and Mexico, giving more destination tour choices and flexibility to the Sunwing Group.
Sunwing began to compete with Air Transat in operating summer charter flights between Canada and European destination in the summer of 2011. Two Boeing 767-300ER were leased from EuroAtlantic Airways for these services, which connected Toronto to Lisbon, London, Paris, Dublin, Rome, Porto and Amsterdam, as well as Montreal to Paris.[2] These flights will resume in the summer of 2012, with Glasgow and Barcelona added to the list of European destinations, while all flights from Montreal to Paris will now be operated in partnership with sister company Corsairfly.
As of May 2011, Sunwing Airlines employs over 1600 staff.
[edit] Awards
As part of the Sunwing Travel Group, Sunwing Airlines was named one of Canada’s 100 fastest growing companies by the magazine Profit 100 for the year 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010.[3]
Sunwing Airlines was voted by Quebec travel agents as “Airline of the Year” in the travel trade publication Express Voyage in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010. This daily electronic newsletter is targeted at travel professionals across the province and is subscribed to by 11,000 readers.[4] The ceremony for "Les Mentions d’Honneur 2011" of Express Voyage took place on December 20, 2011 and Sunwing Airlines won the award of "Airline of the Year" for the fifth consecutive year.[5]
In 2010 Sunwing Airlines was one of the nominees at the World Travel Awards in the category "North America's Leading Low-Cost Airline". Sunwing was the only Canadian operator in the charter/low cost industry to be nominated. the other contender were Virgin America, Spirit Airlines, AirTran Airways, Southwest Airlines, USA3000 Airlines, JetBlue Airways and Frontier Airlines.[5]
In 2011, Sunwing Airlines was once again the only operator representing Canada at the World Travel Awards as a nominee in the category of "North America's Leading Low-Cost Airline". The ceremony took place in Montego Bay on October 7, 2011.[6]
[edit] Destinations
[edit] Services
The onboard service of Sunwing Airlines includes a complementary snack and choice of hot meal served with complimentary glass of wine (not available on flights within United States or Canada), complimentary non-alcoholic beverages, hot towels, complimentary pre-flight champagne on flights leaving Canada as well as mint chocolates before landing. The aircraft are equipped with overhead TVs showing in-flight movies; headsets are distributed for free.[7]
[edit] Fleet
[edit] Current Fleet
The Sunwing Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft:
| Aircraft | In Service | Orders | Passengers | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boeing 737-800 | 23 | 0 | 189 | All equipped with blended winglets |
As of December 2011, the Sunwing Airlines fleet consists of 23 Boeing 737-800 aircraft with an average age of 5.0 years, each of which is equipped with winglets and a 189 passenger seats in a high-density economy class cabin layout. All aircraft are leased (8 from Thomson Airways, 5 from Travel Service Airlines, 3 from ACG, 2 from Tuifly, 2 from CIT, 1 each from ILFC, Icelandair, and Jetairfly).[8]
[edit] References
- ^ "Contact us." Sunwing. Retrieved on September 30, 2009.
- ^ "Sunwing Airlines European Program – Official site". Sunwing.ca. http://www.flysunwing.com/flybetter/newsstory.asp?id=218. Retrieved 2011-03-20.
- ^ "Sunwing Airlines Press Release – Official site". Sunwing.ca. http://www.sunwing.ca/newsstory.asp?id=142. Retrieved 2011-03-20.
- ^ "Express Voyage Press Release – Official site". Expressvoyage.ca. http://www.expressvoyage.ca/reportages.php?sequence_no=32908. Retrieved 2011-03-20.
- ^ a b "Express Voyage official web site". http://www.expressvoyage.ca/index.php. Retrieved 2011-12-14.
- ^ "World Travel Awards nominees 2010 – Official site". worldtravelawards.com. http://worldtravelawards.com/nominees2011-11. Retrieved 2011-03-20.
- ^ In-flight service
- ^ Sunwing Airlies fleet list at planespotters.net
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