British Olympic Alpine skier, Chemmy Alcott has earlier this week saluted the launch of low-cost transatlantic ski flights to Canada, targeting some of the most renowned ski resorts in the world.

Zoom Airlines will be the first to operate low-cost scheduled flights to Canada this winter direct from Gatwick and Glasgow.

Commenting on the new ski flights, Chemmy Alcott said: The introduction of low-cost ski flights to Canada is fantastic news for British skiers and snowboarders.

Whistler is hosting the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games and I believe there will be an enormous level of support for the GB team creating great demand for these superb low-cost Canadian flights.

At 19, Chemmy was the only Briton to qualify in all four disciplines of slalom, giant slalom, super G and downhill at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. Now her sights are firmly set on the Winter Games in Turin, Italy in 2006.

Zoom`s winter flights start operating in November offering high quality scheduled flights to Vancouver three times a week from Gatwick and weekly from Glasgow, offering the flexibility of 7, 10, 11 or 14 nights stay in Whistler. A weekly service to Montreal from Gatwick is ideal for skiers wishing to travel to the famous Tremblant ski area.

Since the launch of these new low-cost ski flights, there has been huge demand from British ski and snowboard enthusiasts, with more than 15,000 confirmed bookings being made.

Debbie Marshall, UK Director of Zoom, said; I have been amazed at the level of bookings we have received for our ski flights to Vancouver and Montreal, since they were first announced in July. These flights offer fantastic value making it far more affordable for the British ski and snowboarding public to experience the world famous ski resorts of Whistler and Tremblant.

Our prices are the lowest scheduled fares across the Atlantic offering a full service with meals, drinks and in-flight entertainment. With no additional charge for ski, snowboard or boot carriage our flights have proved to be extremely popular, and we are also working with a number of the UK`s leading wintersports tour operators.

Zoom have put on extra direct flights from London Gatwick to Toronto and Ottawa to cope with the huge demand for flights over the Christmas and New Year period. The low-cost scheduled flights provide the opportunity to combine a fantastic ski holiday whilst experiencing Christmas in Canada.

In addition, Zoom will also fly weekly from Glasgow to Toronto throughout the winter months, a popular city-break destination all year round.