Air Canada Introduces All-Inclusive Price Advertising with Worldwide Seat Sale Marking its 75th Anniversary Celebrations

MONTREAL, Feb. 8, 2012 /CNW Telbec/ - Air Canada today launched a worldwide seat sale to kick-off a yearlong celebration of the airline's 75^th anniversary and introduced a new, all-inclusive pricing approach to advertising that makes it easier for customers to shop, compare and determine the final cost of air travel.

"This is a seat sale that has been 75 years in the making and Air Canada is pleased to offer customers a chance to celebrate our milestone birthday by putting the world on sale until February 16. With these special fares, Air Canada is introducing a new, all-in approach to advertising fares that will prominently display a final price accompanied by a breakdown of the base fare plus the total cost of additional charges, such as taxes, fees and surcharges. Our all-in price advertising initiative is a response to our customers' increased desire for transparency and simplicity when shopping for air fares, whether they do so through print advertising, online searches or by signing up for our webSaver email specials," said Craig Landry, Vice President of Marketing at Air Canada.

Beginning today, Air Canada is adopting a new all-inclusive price display for its aircanada.com website, webSaver emails, online third party advertisements and print advertising. The approach uses a prominently displayed final price accompanied by a breakdown of the base fare and total related taxes, fees, charges and surcharges. Customers shopping online will find the information by rolling their cursor over the base fare. Final ticket prices may vary by routing and a la carte options selected. For sale details please consult www.aircanada.com.

Air Canada is Canada'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.  Canada's flag carrier is the 15th largest commercial airline in the world and serves almost 34 million customers annually. Air Canada was ranked Best International Airline in North America in a worldwide survey of more than 18 million airline passengers conducted by independent research firm Skytrax for its 2011 World Airline Awards. Also in 2011, readers of Global Traveler magazine voted Air Canada "Best Airline in North America," and readers of Business Traveler voted Air Canada "Best North American Airline for International Travel" and "Best In-Flight Services in North America."  In the annual Ipsos Reid Business Traveller Survey, Air Canada was named "Canada's Favourite Airline for Business Travel."  Air Canada was preferred by 73 per cent of Canadian business travellers surveyed for 2011, the third consecutive year of improvement in Air Canada's ratings in the national survey.

Air Canada provides scheduled passenger service directly to 60 Canadian cities, 57 destinations in the United States and 63 cities in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Australia, the Caribbean, Mexico and South America. Air Canada is a founding member of Star Alliance, the world's most comprehensive air transportation network serving 1,290 destinations in 189 countries.  Air Canada customers can collect Aeroplan miles for future rewards through Canada's leading loyalty program, and Top Tier members enjoy reciprocal frequent flyer benefits including lounge and priority services.  For more information visit aircanada.com, follow @AirCanada on Twitter and join Air Canada on Facebook.

Isabelle Arthur (Montréal)  514 422-5788
Peter Fitzpatrick (Toronto)  416 263-5576
Angela Mah (Vancouver)  604 270-5741

Internet : aircanada.com