Arrival Gate Pop-Ups Treat Travellers with Warm Welcomes

Air Canada celebrates holidays with homecomings at airports across Canada

MONTREAL, Dec. 19, 2017 /CNW Telbec/ - Reunions were a little sweeter, hugs were a little tighter and smiles were a little wider at arrival gates across Canada this holiday season thanks to surprise pop-up boutiques from Air Canada in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal airports. To help make travellers' holiday homecomings even more memorable, Air Canada pilots and flight attendants offered gifts, including giant teddy bears, balloons, and flowers to arriving customers on select flights. Some lucky travellers were also surprised with free tickets to help shorten the time between visits with their family and friends.

"The arrivals gate is an emotional and personal place for many of us, full of the excitement and anticipation that come from reunions with loved ones," says Andy Shibata, Managing Director, Brand at Air Canada. "For travellers, stepping out into the arrivals area is often the first moment where they truly feel like they've arrived home. That is such an important part of the holiday season for so many of our customers, so we wanted to do our part to make it extra special."

Visit Air Canada's Instagram, Facebook and Twitter pages to see some of the heartfelt homecomings caught on video. 

This is the latest of a larger campaign Air Canada launched in November to celebrate the feeling of "Home". Roundtrip tickets have been given away to those who visited the arrival gate boutiques, along with eight winners of a social media contest where members of the community were asked to share a story of someone they want to bring home for the holidays.

"Our hope is to spread the feeling of 'Home' to as many travellers as we can," added Shibata.

About Air Canada

Air Canada is Canada's largest domestic and international airline serving more than 200 airports on six continents.  Canada's flag carrier is among the 20 largest airlines in the world and in 2016 served close to 45 million customers.  Air Canada provides scheduled passenger service directly to 64 airports in Canada, 60 in the United States and 98 in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Australia, the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America and South America. Air Canada is a founding member of Star Alliance, the world's most comprehensive air transportation network serving 1,300 airports in 191 countries.  Air Canada is the only international network carrier in North America to receive a Four-Star ranking according to independent U.K. research firm Skytrax, which also named Air Canada the 2017 Best Airline in North America.  For more information, please visit: www.aircanada.com, follow @AirCanada on Twitter and join Air Canada on Facebook.

SOURCE Air Canada