Stopping the habit brings awards and rewards to Edmonton
Stopping the habit brings awards and rewards to Edmonton
Edmontonians enjoy improved air service; EIA achieves marketing and communications hat trick
September 20, 2010 (Edmonton, Alta.) – The sunny numbers are in: to meet the growing demand for more flights to more destinations from Edmonton International Airport (EIA), airlines have responded by adding 21 percent more seats for the 2010-2011 winter travel season. The increase over last winter’s travel season owes greatly to ongoing community support and the success of the Stop the Calgary Habit campaign.
“Stop the Calgary Habit campaign is part of our overall air service development strategy and people have clearly understood the message,” says Peter McCart, EIA Vice-President, Marketing & Business Development. “By flying from EIA and demonstrating demand from this market, it improves our business case to the airlines to increase frequency and add more Destinations.”
The positive impact of the campaign was seen in the first six months of this year almost 19,000 fewer Edmontonians drove to Calgary to catch a flight. By adjusting their travel habits, travellers are being rewarded with more seats, new routes and increased flight frequency at EIA.
A key addition to EIA’s family of non-stops is WestJet’s seasonal service to Orlando, which runs from December 18 to April 30. Orlando is EIA’s newest US destination and one of the airport’s most-requested route additions.
Other hot travel highlights include:
- Sunwing Vacations will operate four additional destinations this winter: Montego Bay, Huatulco, Los Cabos and Mazatlan.
- WestJet is increasing its non-stop service to Maui for winter 2011 to two flights per week. The Maui service runs from February 15 to April 26.
- WestJet will offer a weekly service to Montego Bay, Jamaica from November 5 to April 29.
- In December, Continental Airlines will increase capacity on its Edmonton-Houston service by operating peak dates with a larger aircraft, the Boeing B737-800.
In addition to helping build more air service, the Stop the Calgary Habit campaign has once again helped EIA achieve international recognition for its marketing and communications efforts.
For the third year in a row, Edmonton International Airport (EIA) has claimed the top spot at Airports Council International-North America’s (ACI-NA) “Excellence in Marketing and Communications Contest.” The Peggy G. Hereford Award is given to honour overall creativity and excellence in marketing and public relations among airports across North America. EIA competed with over 250 submissions from 55 airports across Canada and the US. This year’s win marks the first time an airport has ever won the top honour three consecutive times.
The Stop the Calgary Habit campaign also recently won Summit International’s Marketing Effectiveness Award in the Consumer Services category. The award recognizes the marketing
effectiveness and creative execution of campaigns from around the world.
“Stop the Calgary Habit has proven to be our most effective campaign to date,” says McCart. “Winning these awards is an incredible honour for EIA, but the real winner is our community.”
The Stop the Calgary Habit campaign launched on March 1 and was conceived in collaboration with Donovan Creative Communications, an Edmonton-based agency.
For a complete listing of EIA’s growing family of non-stops, visit www.flyeia.com/destinations.
Media inquiries:
Sarah Meffen
Communications
t: 780 890 2434
c: 780 884 2966
e: smeffen@flyeia.com
Traci Bednard
Communications
t: 780 890 8055
c: 780 909 9554
e: tbednard@flyeia.com