Air Canada

Air Canada (TSX: AC) is the flag carrier and largest airline of Canada. The airline, founded in 1937, provides scheduled and charter air transport for passengers and cargo to 178 destinations worldwide. It is the world's tenth-largest passenger airline by fleet size, and is a founding member of the Star Alliance. Air Canada's corporate headquarters are located in Montreal, Quebec, while its largest hub is Toronto Pearson International Airport, located in Mississauga, Ontario. Air Canada had passenger revenues of CA$13.27 billion in 2014. The airline's regional service is Air Canada Express.

Canada's national airline originated from the Canadian federal government's 1936 creation of Trans-Canada Airlines (TCA), which began operating their first transcontinental flight routes in 1938. In 1965, TCA was renamed Air Canada following government approval. After the deregulation of the Canadian airline market in the 1980s, the airline was privatized in 1988. On 4 January 2000, Air Canada acquired their largest rival, Canadian Airlines. In 2003, the airline filed for bankruptcy protection and in the following year emerged and reorganized under the holding company ACE Aviation Holdings Inc. In 2006, 34 million people flew with Air Canada as the airline celebrated their 70th anniversary. Air Canada is recognized as the Skytrax Best International Airline in North America, and was ranked as a 4 Star Airline by Skytrax in 2013. It is also one of Canada's best managed companies.

Aircraft spotting

Aircraft spotting or plane spotting is the observation, photographing, and logging of the registration numbers of aircraft, which includes gliders, balloons, airships, helicopters, and microlights.

History and evolution

Aviation enthusiasts have been watching airplanes and other aircraft ever since they were invented. However, plane spotting was not considered a distinct hobby until the second half of the 20th century.

The development of technology and global resources enabled a revolution in spotting. Point and shoot cameras, DSLRs & walkie talkies significantly changed the hobby. With the help of the internet, websites, such as FlightAware, have made it possible for spotters to track and locate specific aircraft from all across the world. Websites, such as Airliners.net, allow spotters to upload their shots or see pictures of aircraft spotted by other people from all over the world.

Techniques

When spotting aircraft, observers generally notice the key attributes of an aircraft, such as a distinctive noise from its engine or the number of vapour trails it is leaving. Observers assess the size of the aircraft and the number, type and position of its engines. Another distinctive attribute is the position of wings relative to the fuselage and the degree to which they are swept rearwards. The wings may be above the fuselage, below it, or fixed at midpoint. The number of wings indicate whether it is a monoplane, biplane, or triplane. The position of the tailplane relative to the fin(s) and the shape of the fin are other attributes. The configuration of the landing gear can be distinctive, as well.

Air Transat

Air Transat is a Canadian airline based in Montreal, Quebec, operating scheduled and charter flights, serving 60 destinations in 25 countries. The airline is owned and operated by Transat A.T. Inc. During the summer season its main destinations are Europe and in the winter season the Caribbean, Mexico, United States and Central America, though the airline operates many year-round flights to Europe from their Toronto and Montreal bases. Its main Canadian gateways are Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport and Toronto Pearson International Airport. The airline also has operations at Calgary International Airport, Québec City Jean Lesage International Airport, Vancouver International Airport and others.

History

Air Transat made its inaugural flight on November 14, 1987, travelling from Montreal to Acapulco. Six years later, Air Transat assumed defunct Nationair's maintenance base and aircraft. Today, the company books over 3.5 million passengers a year. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Transat A.T. Inc.

Montréal–Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport

Montréal–Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport (IATA: YUL, ICAO: CYUL) (French: Aéroport international Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau de Montréal) or Montréal–Trudeau, formerly known as Montréal–Dorval International Airport (Aéroport international Montréal-Dorval), is a Canadian airport located on the Island of Montreal, 20 km (12 mi) from Montreal's downtown core. The airport terminals are located entirely in the suburb of Dorval, while the Air Canada headquarters complex and one runway is located in the Montreal borough of Saint-Laurent. It is an international airport serving Greater Montreal, along with the regions of northern Vermont and New York. The airport is named in honour of Pierre Elliott Trudeau, the 15th Prime Minister of Canada.

The airport is one of two managed and operated by Aéroports de Montréal (ADM), a not-for-profit corporation without share capital; the other airport is Montréal–Mirabel northwest of Montreal, which was initially intended to replace the one in Dorval but now deals almost solely with cargo. Montréal–Trudeau is owned by Transport Canada which has a 60-year lease with Aéroports de Montréal, as per Canada's National Airport Policy of 1994.

Montreal

Montreal (ⁱ/ˌmʌntriːˈɒl/;French: Montréal,pronounced: [mɔ̃ʁeal]) is the largest city in the Canadian province of Quebec. It is the second largest city in Canada and the 26th largest in the Americas. Originally called Ville-Marie, or "City of Mary," it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-peaked hill in the heart of the city. The city is on the Island of Montreal, which took its name from the same source as the city, and a few much smaller peripheral islands, the largest of which is Île Bizard. It has a distinct four-season continental climate with warm to hot summers and cold snowy winters.

In 2011 the city had a population of 1,649,519. Montreal's metropolitan area had a population of 3,824,221 and a population of 1,886,481 in the urban agglomeration, with all of the municipalities on the Island of Montreal included. The 2014 estimate of the population of the metropolitan area of Montreal is 4.1 million.

French is the city's official language and is the language spoken at home by 56.9% of the population of the city, followed by English at 18.6% and 19.8% other languages (in the 2006 census). In the larger Montreal Census Metropolitan Area, 67.9% of the population speaks French at home, compared to 16.5% who speak English. Montreal is one of the most bilingual cities in Quebec and Canada with 56% of the population able to speak both English and French. Montreal is the second largest primarily French-speaking city in the world, after Paris.