Air Canada brings Olympic athletes home

Air Canada will begin flying members of Canada's Olympic team back to Canada on Monday from the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, with flights arriving at Toronto Pearson airport early Tuesday morning.

The athletes will return to Toronto on Tuesday on flight Air Canada AC091 from Sao Paulo due to arrive at 5:40 a.m. and Air Canada AC1099 due to arrive at 5:15 a.m. from Rio de Janeiro. More athletes and team members will arrive on Wednesday with Air Canada flight AC091 due to land at 5:00 a.m. and Air Canada flight AC099 from Rio de Janeiro at 5:15 a.m.

In total, Air Canada transported approximately 690 athletes, coaches and support staff with the Canadian Team to Rio.

First scheduled transatlantic flight for WestJet

WestJet marks a key milestone in its 18-year history Sunday night with the launch of its first scheduled transatlantic service between Toronto and Dublin, Ireland, with a brief stop in St. John's, Newfoundland. The flight arrives in Dublin tomorrow at 7 a.m. local time.

Announced in November 2013, WestJet offered introductory fares between Toronto and Dublin starting from $199 on all flights in both directions from June 15 to Oct. 5 - fares which sold out within the first 24 hours. Today, the service is heavily booked and well ahead of projections, recently prompting a three-week extension to Oct. 25.

WestJet offer scheduled service to more than 85 destinations in North America, Central America, the Caribbean and Europe. Through their regional airline, WestJet Encore, the airline offers more than 120 destinations in more than 20 countries.

Another day of delays and cancellations for Air Canada

Although Air Canada ground handling employees at Toronto and Montreal international airports have returned to work following an illegal work stoppage this morning, delays and cancellations of Air Canada-operated flights primarily to Canadian and U.S. destinations are expected for the remainder of the day, the airline said in a press statement on Friday.

"We recognize that many customers are being inconvenienced and our focus right now is on getting them to their destination safely, and as quickly as we can," said Duncan Dee, Air Canada’s Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. "We thank our customers for their patience and loyalty as we work doubly hard to restore their confidence in Air Canada. We would also like to thank those employees who worked tirelessly throughout the night to minimize impact on our customers."

Air Canada is the country's largest domestic and international full-service airline providing scheduled and charter air transportation for passengers and cargo to more than 180 destinations on five continents.

Customers are requested to check the status of their flight at aircanada.com before leaving for the airport.

On Sunday, a fire at Lester B. Pearson International Airport in Toronto caused major flight delays and cancellations in the morning for Air Canada and other air traffic. The fire disabled the lights on runway 05/23 and reduced the airport's operating capacity, airport officials said.