Worldspan signs no-frills

Agents and companies using Worldspan can now book CanJet tickets alongside those of full service carriers. Agents will receive a 5% commission on tickets. CanJet Airlines serves ten destinations in central and eastern Canada and the US, including Halifax, Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto, New York LaGuardia and Chicago Midway. It also operates a seasonal service to St. Petersburg, Sarasota Bradenton and West Palm Beach, Florida. The airline has plans to expand its fleet size to 20 by the end of 2006, and is expected to announce further longhaul routes. Worldspan has a number of other no-frills carriers signed up. The list includes AirTran, American West, Frontier, Spirit, ATA, and WestJet in the US and Canada and Virgin Express, Duo and Air Berlin in Europe. The GDSs are keen to woo no-frills carriers, but none have managed to secure the leading UK carriers, Ryanair and EasyJet. Speaking at a debate during the Travel Technology Show in February, representatives from the four GDSs said they would like to get no-frills carriers on board, but would probably need to offer them a reduced price package. Report by Ginny McGrath