Air Canada has informed its unions that it intends to start up a new brand to compete with discount air travel airlines like Air Transat and Sunwing-Signature. This is good news for vacationers who want to travel cheaply to popular spots in Europe, Mexico and the Caribbean, as well as some big US destinations.

However, it's also possible that Canada's biggest airline could end up monopolizing the market and forcing out competitors. To begin with, though, Air Canada plans to devote only 10 planes to its new carrier, and this will likely have the effect of drivingn prices down as other airlines must compete to make their vacation packages more attractive. Canada' s air travel market is definitely heating up, as carriers like WestJet extend their focus eastward to the busy Toronto-Ottawa-Montreal corridor and offer new service to Orlando, Maui, Honolulu, Jamaica, Mexico and Fort Lauderdale.