Air Canada reported a December overall occupancy of 75.2 percent, with a 77 percent rate for domestic flights that was mostly owed to a 3.3 percent cutback on the number of seats. All through 2004, the company carried a grand total of 41 million passengers, nearly 4 million more travelers than in the course of 2003.

Mexico has vowed to provide Central American nations with technical assistance in travel matters in an effort to help them make the most of their tourist potentials in such fields as cruises, air connections and project management and assessment. According to a copy of a press release obtained by Caribbean News Digital, the proposal was made by Mexican Tourism Secretary Rodolfo Elizondo Torres, who promised to get more help from federal authorities in a number of issues that could yield in better usage of tourist potentials on the part of Central American nations.

A technical failure in the propulsion system of the Aurora ship forced P&O Cruises to cancel the entire 103-day world cruise on the 1,874-passenger boat. Parent company Carnival Corp. said the cancellation of the world cruise will cost the company about $.05 per share in 2005. The Aurora was called back to port for intense repair works. In turn, P&O Cruises will likely offer shorter replacement cruises instead. Passengers booked on the world cruise are being provided refunds and future cruise discounts.

NH Hotels will open in February a brand-new facility in the Mexican location of Puebla with an initial investment of $8 million, the company informed this week. The addition of this establishment brings the tally of NH hotels in Mexico to fourteen, with more expansion plans in the offing for the Aztec nation that include four other resorts already underway.

Mexico City´s international airport was used by 22.9 million passengers in the course of last year, up 6 percent from 2003 when 21.6 million travelers walked past its gates. Jose Luis Uribe, a spokesman for the air terminal, hailed the increase as good news, even though the numbers were shorter than the projected 23.1 million passengers.

A grand total of 165.9 million passengers used Spain´s 45 international airports all through 2004, up 7.9 percent from 2003, Spanish Airports & Air Navigation (AENA is the Spanish acronym) reported over the weekend. Iberia took in 26.7 million travelers out of that total for a 4.2 increment from the previous year. The company´s great outcomes stemmed mostly from the good going of mid-range and long-haul flights, sources close to Iberia´s front office told Caribbean News Digital.