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Air Transat began non-stop service to Los Angeles from Montreal this week. This first flight to the City of Angels — famous for its Hollywood Walk of Fame, Sunset Boulevard, countless film studios and Malibu Beach — marks the start of the carrier’s operations in sunny California.

The first TS240 flight to Los Angeles landed on May 16, with passengers and crew greeted with excitement by the airport team.

“We are thrilled to be operating this route and flying passengers to a multifaceted city that is known for its many tourist attractions, but that also represents an excellent gateway to the rest of California,” said Joseph Adamo, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, Transat. “The new flight shows our commitment to developing the transborder market and offering new destinations to travellers seeking discovery and experiences,” he added.

“After recently consolidating its position in the transatlantic market with its first flight from Montreal to Amsterdam, Air Transat continues to develop its services, this time to the United States with a new route to Los Angeles. Whether it’s for business or pleasure, our passengers will be happy to enjoy the sunshine of the Pacific Coast. Nothing makes us happier than to see our partners enrich their services. In the end, the entire community benefits from its international airport, and after two difficult years, YUL is well positioned to resume its role as a major air traffic hub,” said Stéphane Lapierre, Vice President, Airport Operations and Air Services Development at ADM.

“The addition of Air Transat at LAX will enhance the economic and tourism ties between Los Angeles and Montreal and give Angelenos a new option when it comes to exploring all that Canada has to offer,” said Justin Erbacci, Chief Executive Officer, Los Angeles World Airports. “We welcome Air Transat to beautiful Southern California just in time for travellers to head north for fun and vacations this spring and summer.”

Flights to Los Angeles will be operated until the end of October three times weekly, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. On May 19, Air Transat will also inaugurate its non-stop service between Montreal and San Francisco, which will run twice a week.

This will allow Canadian travellers to book a multi-destination flight; for example, passengers can land in Los Angeles, venture along the scenic Route 1 and return home from San Francisco.

Air Transat passengers flying to California will do so on board the new-generation Airbus A321neoLR which is 15% more fuel efficient, 50% less noisy and lowers emissions of the greenhouse gas NOx by 50% compared to previous generation aircraft. In addition, its modern cabin provides more personal space and larger individual entertainment screens in both Economy and Club Class.

First published at Travel Industry Today

First published at TravelNewsHub.com – Global Travel News

Congress held its first hearing in half a century Tuesday on unidentified flying objects. And no, there is still no government confirmation of extraterrestrial life. Testifying before a House Intelligence subcommittee, Pentagon officials did not disclose additional information from their ongoing investigation of hundreds of unexplained sightings in the sky. But they said they had picked a director for a new task force to coordinate data collection efforts on what the government has officially labeled “unidentified aerial phenomena.”

Ronald Moultrie, the undersecretary of defense for intelligence, said the Pentagon was also trying to destigmatize the issue and encourage pilots and other military personnel to report anything unusual they see.

“We want to know what’s out there as much as you want to know what’s out there,” Moultrie told lawmakers, adding that he was a fan of science fiction himself. “We get the questions not just from you. We get it from family and we get them night and day.”

Lawmakers from both parties say UFOs are a national security concern. Sightings of what appear to be aircraft flying without discernible means of propulsion have been reported near military bases and coastlines, raising the prospect that witnesses have spotted undiscovered or secret Chinese or Russian technology.

But the sightings are usually fleeting. Some appear for no more than an instant on camera – and then sometimes end up distorted by the camera lens. The US government is believed to hold additional technical information on the sightings that it has not disclosed publicly.

This file video grab image obtained April 28, 2020 courtesy of the US Department of Defense shows part of an unclassified video taken by Navy pilots that have circulated for years showing interactions with “unidentified aerial phenomena”.

An interim report released by intelligence officials last year counted 144 sightings of aircraft or other devices apparently flying at mysterious speeds or trajectories. In all but one of the sightings investigated, there was too little information for investigators to even broadly characterize the nature of the incident.

A top Pentagon official on Tuesday briefly demonstrated the challenge. Scott Bray, deputy director of naval intelligence, stood next to a television to show a short video taken from an F-18 military plane. The video shows a blue sky with passing clouds. In a single frame – which it took several minutes for staff in the room to queue up – there is an image of one balloon-like shape.

“As you can see, finding UAP is harder than you may think,” Bray said, using the acronym for “unidentified aerial phenomena.”

Rep. Andre Carson, an Indiana Democrat who chaired the hearing, called on investigators to show they “are willing to follow the facts where they lead.”

Rep. Rick Crawford, an Arkansas Republican, noted that the investigations were not “about finding alien spacecraft but about delivering dominant intelligence.”

“The inability to understand objects in our sensitive operating areas is tantamount to intelligence failure that we certainly want to avoid,” he said.

First published at Travel Industry Today

First published at TravelNewsHub.com – Global Travel News