It’s hard for us to see whether it’s business travellers, or vacation travellers, or people visiting friends and relatives.No clear trend for passenger numbers is seen at Canadian airports, he said.Factors affecting this sector can include the exchange rate, uncertainty about the economy, and employers allocating fewer dollars to travel, Dickson said.Despite the recent drop in numbers, the airport handled more than 1.5 million passengers last year, the same number handled in 2009 and 2008. This was an increase from 1.48 million in 2007 and 1.39 million in 2006.

Other revenues comes from restaurants, retail operations, and land development. Ground will be broken in the coming week for the $31-million 150,000square-foot Thrifty Foods distribution centre, he said.The first flight to Phoenix is Nov. 4 and service is expected to run into the spring. Other direct flights go to such destinations as Hawaii, Las Vegas, Cancun, Puerto Vallarta, and San Francisco.Phoenix is a popular destination for Canadians, who are welcomed by the business community.

“We have a lot of Canadians who winter here and they have a big impact on our economy, so that will make it easier for some additional Canadians to come down here and that’s great,said Ron McElhaney, vice-president of finance and operations at the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce.Arizona’s desert climate, which includes Phoenix, has an average high of 23.8 C in November and there’s very little rain, according to the Arizona Tourism and Travel website.Golfers have plenty of places to play in Phoenix. There are tonnes of opportunities to golf here. We have golf courses everywhere,McElhaney said.The Waste Management Phoenix Open draws huge crowds. This PGA tour event next runs Jan. 30 to Feb. 5, 2012.For sun-seekers in Comox, direct flights between that community and Mexico are being reinstated this winter.Between Dec. 18 and March 28, a Boeing 737 will leave the Comox Valley Airport every Monday and Tuesday to fly to Cancun and Puerto Vallarta.

A special event to promote the flights, offering through Transat Holidays and Nolitours, is being held at the airport Saturday in its international arrivals area from 1 to 5 p.m.Transat first started offering winter flights to Puerto Vallarta from Comox in 2004 and then added Cancun in 2009. More than 22,700 passengers have flown from Comox to Mexico with Transat and Nolitours in the past eight years, said a Comox Airport release.

The 737-800 aircraft from Los Angeles was full, and its 160 passengers landed about 10 minutes earlier than the anticipated 7:40 p.m. arrival.They were greeted with a dramatic arching water curtain sprayed over the taxiing aircraft by fire trucks, then upon deplaning, passengers were adorned with orchid lei at Gate 3.As they rode the escalator down toward baggage claim, local musicians and hula dancers greeted them on the ground floor.The Big Island Visitors Bureau and its supporters presented each passenger with a glossy red bag filled with Hilo goodies, including Big Island Candies, Mauna Loa Macadamia Nuts, and more. Hilo Coffee Mill provided steaming hot cups of their special dark roast 100 percent Puna coffee as passengers waited for their luggage.

Mayor Billy Kenoi, Big Island Visitors Bureau executive director George Applegate, County Councilman Fred Blas, County Councilman Donald Ikeda and Miss Aloha Hawaii Tatiana Boteilho.Applegate recalled that after the loss of ATA’s nonstop from Oakland in 2008, no one thought another nonstop would happen for Hilo, but gave kudos to Kenoi for staying positive, and proactive to bring in another mainland/Hilo flight.

These flights don’t materialize like a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, Applegate said.There is a lot of strategic planning, convincing and commitment that does into it. I want to acknowledge the thoughtful and determined effort that Mayor Kenoi and his team put into making these flights a reality. And now it looks like we might have our pot of gold, near the end of Rainbow Falls you might say.We are proud to host United Airlines’ direct flights from Los Angeles and San Francisco,” Kenoi said. “It means we can offer our visitors true Hilo hospitality and show them premier attractions such as Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and the world-famous annual Merrie Monarch Hula Festival. We believe our guests will love Hilo as much as we do and will want to return.

Among the passengers were a mother and daughter reuniting with their soldier dad and a grandpa who stepped off the plane to hold his infant grandson for the first time.When military wife Chanda Reyes and her three year-old daughter Maya greeted Navy Lt. Carlos Reyes at the bottom of the escalator, there weren’t many dry eyes in the arrival area. The family has been separated for six months while Reyes, a helicopter pilot, served in Afghanistan.The Navy gave me this chance to meet my family anywhere for a reunion, and we chose Hilo. We’re from Colorado, and Hilo seems like a beautiful halfway spot between home and Afghanistan. This new flight made it easy to happen,” Reyes said, his arms tightly around his wife and baby girl.

The family was headed to accommodations in lush, oceanfront Kapoho in Coastal Puna about a 40-minute drive from Hilo, but couldn’t help but linger and enjoy the talented hula performances at the airport.At a gate event in Los Angeles, Hilo radio personality DJ Gumby broadcast live from the airport and hosted a trivia contest with customers.Award-winning singer and songwriter Robert Cazimero then performed a traditional Hawaiian blessing before joining Capt. Lau, DJ Gumby and other customers on the inaugural flight.

“Together, United and Continental have served Hawaii for more than six decades, and this new nonstop service provides our customers with more extensive access to the islands, said Jim Compton, executive vice president and chief revenue officer of United Continental Holdings, Inc.We are excited to strengthen our presence in the Hawaiian community and are proud to be the only carrier to offer nonstop service to Hilo from the mainland,” Compton said.

The last time Hilo welcomed a regular direct flight from Los Angeles was 1983.According to the Hawaii Tourism Authority, the flights have the potential to bring 40,000 visitors to the island, who will generate approximately $50 million in direct spending annually.United has served Hawaii since 1947 and – from its hubs at Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver, Houston, Chicago and New York/Newark – provides more mainline service to the islands than any other U.S. carrier.

Continental will utilize a Boeing 737-800 aircraft on the route, with 16 seats in first class and 144 seats in economy.United Continental Holdings, Inc. is the holding company for United Airlines and Continental Airlines. Together with United Express, Continental Express and Continental Connection, these airlines operate an average of 5,820 flights a day to 373 airports on six continents from their hubs in Chicago, Cleveland, Denver, Guam, Houston, Los Angeles, New York/Newark Liberty, San Francisco, Tokyo and Washington, D.C.United and Continental are members of Star Alliance, which offers 21,000 daily flights to 1,160 airports in 181 countries. United and Continental’s more than 80,000 employees reside in every U.S. state and in many countries around the world.

The flight from Helsinki to Chicago will depart at 14.10, arriving at 15.40.The return flight from Chicago departs at 15.40 and arrives in Helsinki at 08.30.Finnair flies to New York daily and to Toronto five times per week in the summer traffic season.Finnair flies in code share cooperation with American Airlines to Boston, Washington, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Miami, for example. In Europe, Finnair flies in cooperation with American Airlines to London, Paris and Frankfurt.

In addition to Finnair and American Airlines, the members of the oneworld alliance members are British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Iberia, Japan Airlines, LAN, Malév Hungarian Airlines, Mexicana, Qantas, Royal Jordanian and the Russian S7 as well as around 20 subsidiaries. The Indian airline Kingfisher will join the alliance in 2011 and the German airberlin in 2012.

The Oklahoma Bioscience Association provided some of the impetus through a survey of local members conducted at the request of Oklahoma City officials from Will Rogers World Airport, Association President Sheri Stickley said.We got a huge response back, first of all,Stickley said.And secondly, from what (airport marketing director) Karen Carney tells me, that was something that the United folks actually considered in making their decision.The new connection could produce more venture capital flowing from investor-rich California to Oklahoma, Stickley said, because investors often prefer funding companies that can be reached via a direct flight.

Among the connections that turned up in the quick survey, Stickley said, was the research done locally at the Dean A. McGee Eye Institute and the San Francisco-based American Academy of Ophthalmology. Also, CoMentis, a company focused on developing treatments for Alzheimers, is based in San Francisco and conducts research in Oklahoma City.It’s a really good thing for Oklahoma City and for the entire state,Stickley said.James Starnes, United’s director of domestic planning, agreed that the flights will connect people working in biosciences in Oklahoma and California.

The nonstop flight will provide a link between Oklahoma City’s growing bioscience community and the established bioscience community in San Francisco,Starnes said.The new service also will provide Oklahoma City travelers with nonstop service to a major hub airport for easier connections to the western United States, Asia and Australia, he said. United operates more than 260 daily departures from San Francisco to the Americas, Asia, Australia and Europe.Mark Kranenburg, airport director for Will Rogers World Airport, said once the new flight begins, Oklahoma City will be connected to seven of United’s hubs across the country.The addition of United’s nonstop service to San Francisco is really great news for Oklahoma City,Kranenburg said.We appreciate United’s commitment to the market.

In return, Delta can offer Virgin Blue flights from Sydney to other destinations in Australia and New Zealand.Connectivity within the US is extremely important to Australian travellers, with around 60% of guests travelling on to other destinations following their arrival in the US  said Virgin Blue Group’s Merren McArthur.Virgin Blue has worked successfully with Delta for three years in an interline and codeshare capacity and today’s announcement is a natural next step forward in our relationship.

Virgin Blue is still awaiting a decision from the US Department of Transportation on cementing a more formal alliance with Delta.This would elevate the US carrier to the same partnership status as V Australia currently enjoys with Etihad and Air New Zealand, and in the process turn Los Angles into what Virgin Blue Group CEO John Borghetti calls the airline’s.

The announcement of Cathay’s new Chicago service also coincided with the unveiling Tuesday in Hong Kong of the carrier’s latest business class seat and new uniforms for cabin crew and customer service agents that will be rolled out starting early next year. A Cathay spokesman said the new enhancements are expected to be on aircraft servicing the Chicago-Hong Kong route. Cathay plans to operate a Boeing 777-300 extended range aircraft with first, business and economy cabins on the route.The Cathay spokesman also said the carrier plans to hire Chicago-based sales and airport services staff to support its new operations from the city.

Alaska Airlines will fly to and from the Oakland and Lihue airports on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.Fares start at $179 each way if tickets are purchased by July 9 for travel through May 17, 2011.With the expansion, Alaska Airlines will have more than 100 weekly flights to Hawaii’s four biggest islands from airports on the U.S. West Coast.

Los Angeles flights from $339
New York flights from $439
San Francisco flights from $339

Book your trip with Expedia by June 30 for travel dates from July 31- Aug. 31.

The delay program would affect arriving flights coming from locations west of Denver. Ginty said departures will likely not be immediately impacted.Passengers are advised to check with their airlines before going to the airport.Oakland International Airport and Mineta San Jose International Airport are not affected by the delay program.