The problem is that WestJet doesn't have smaller planes, therefore it is less able to accommodate the smaller flight loads to Winnipeg.

The sad thing is that stubborn WestJet diehards will continue to fly WestJet to Winnipeg - even with the jog through Alberta. (and WestJet is probably aware of this undying devotion... thus the decision to cancel flights).

All else being equal, I'd support WestJet - but I rarely fly WestJet because too many of their flights are routed through Calgary.
If I'm flying to Calgary, then that's okay... but if I'm flying from Winnipeg to Regina then it's a disgusting waste of my time to be routed through Calgary.

That's too bad for people who fly to Winnipeg (and huge fans of WestJet such as myself), but I think this was the second time WestJet had tried to see if routes from YWG to YQR and YXE would work. Obviously most people who used this route were carrying on to Toronto. I do however applaud WestJet for bringin g back seasonal service to Toronto and Vancouver. Hopefully these flights become year-round eventually. I think the demand is there.

More airport news, all though a little old, this is good as I may be flying in and out of Saskatoon a lot more in the near future.

Saskatoon Airport Sees Record Growth
Airport Authority wants to cut down lineups.


Reported By Danny Grummett
Posted May 6, 2009 - 3:25pm

It's about a half decade ahead of its time.

"When the community Airport Authority took over this airport they anticipated that we would be at this current stage that we're at here, in 2009, by about 2015." says Nancy Hopkins, chair of the board of directors for Saskatoon Airport Authority.

Saskatoon Airport is one of the few airports across Canada that saw an increase in passenger traffic last year. Over 1.1 million people flew in and out of John G Diefenbaker airport in 2008. That's an increase in growth of 9.6% over this time last year. That growth is causing some concern among passengers exiting Saskatoon, especially in the early morning.

"That early morning security clearance is the most difficult issue", Hopkins says, " We've run into a space crunch to be able to accomodate that. That's one of the things we'd like to solve sooner rather than later."

Airport C-E-O Bill Restall says the long lines are reflection of the community's growth in recent years.

"We've started to see people flying a lot more," Restall says. He even attributes part of the the growth to a different mindset of the younger generation.

"In my generation a road trip was getting in the old Chevy and head to the beach," Restall recalls, "Well now, in their case its getting on a plane, 'Let's go to Denver and watch a baseball game'. It's a different nature from their perspective."

Restall says as long as people keep filling airplane seats, there are plans to expand John G. Diefenbaker airport to accomodate more people within the next five years.Those plans are still in the early stages.

In the meantime, a fourth line will be added at the departure gate to help cut down on wait times. It's expected to ready in the Fall.

how long does it take to drive from Saskatoon to Regina?

its about 2.5 to 3 hours, depending on which side of the city you are comming from or heading to

city edge to city edge, if you are doing 120km/h which most people drive, it can be done in 2 hours... It's 243Km from city edge... It's never taken me 2 1/2 hours

Where does Regina go for Intl Flights Currently?

Just Charters and Minneapolis?

Denver, Minneapolis, Las Vegas that I know of.

MORE FLIGHTS FOR SASK

WestJet launches non-stop service to the West Coast!

Airline introduces seasonal non-stop flights from Saskatoon and Regina to
Vancouver

CALGARY, May 19 /CNW/ - As part of an enhanced summer schedule, WestJet
today announced that it has launched seasonal non-stop service from Saskatoon
and Regina to Vancouver.
"WestJet continues to grow and offer more guests the opportunity to
experience our world-class guest experience," said Bob Cummings, WestJet
Executive Vice-President of Guest Experience and Marketing. "The summer is a
special time of year because so many of us spend more time on the road,
visiting with family and friends and enjoying this beautiful country. We're
very pleased to offer the people of Saskatchewan the chance to enjoy some time
on the Lower Mainland at an affordable price with a great schedule and daily
non-stop service."

Also, WestJet's non-stop flights from Regina and Saskatoon to Las Vegas are resuming in August rather than September. I don't have a link, but I saw it on the news last night, and WestJet's online flight schedules confirm this.

WestJet to offer non-stop flights to Mexico


The StarPhoenixJune 5, 2009



WestJet Airlines will be flying non-stop to three Mexican sun destinations from Saskatoon this winter.

The Calgary-based airline announced Thursday it will take travellers directly to Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta and Cancun from the Bridge City starting in December for introductory fares from $209.

The seasonal flights to Mazatlan run on Thursdays starting on Dec. 10, the flights to Puerto Vallarta run on Fridays starting on Dec. 11 and the flights to Cancun run on Saturdays starting on Dec. 12.

The flight to Mazatlan will leave Saskatoon at 10:15 a.m. CST and will arrive at 1:46 p.m. MDT, with the return flight leaving the Sinaloa state city at 2:40 p.m. MDT and arriving in Saskatoon at 8:20 p.m. CST.

The flight to Puerto Vallarta leaves Saskatoon at 8 a.m. and arrives at 12:47 p.m., while the return flight leaves Puerto Vallarta at 1:40 p.m. and arrives in Saskatoon at 6:36 p.m. Saskatoon and Puerto Vallarta are in the same time zone.

The flight to Cancun leaves Saskatoon at 8:20 a.m. CST and arrives at 1:23 p.m. CDT, with the return flight leaving Cancun at 2:10 p.m. CDT and arriving in Saskatoon at 7:52 p.m. CST.
© Copyright (c) The StarPhoenix

It looks like whoever made that entry for YXE was going on false info, as it's not on the AC Jazz list anymore. Remember, don't believe everything you read on Wikipedia.

WestJet adds scheduled flights to Mexico from Regina

Regina Leader-Post June 4, 2009

Regina is getting scheduled — as opposed to charter — flights to destinations outside of Canada or the U.S.

They'll be going to winter destinations in Mexico and will be flown by Calgary-based WestJet.

The flights, announced Thursday, will take Reginans to and from Cancun, Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta, and Cabo San Lucas, starting in the second week of December.

The flights to each Mexican destination will operate once a week and will be in addition to charter or tour operators' packages from Regina, which tend to be announced much later in the year, said Regina airport CEO Jim Hunter.

It might seem odd for WestJet to announce winter getaway flights in June, but Hunter said there is clear business logic in its approach.

He said WestJet recently terminated a Mexico-bound business partnership with rival Air Transat. "I think that what they're doing is 'cherrypicking' what they see as some of the best routes.

"It's very, very aggressive marketing by WestJet," said Hunter, who added he expects charter operators start unveiling their winter flight plans out of Regina by the middle or end of July.

© Copyright (c) The Regina Leader-Post

Airport Statistics

Saskatoon continued to lead the nation during the first quarter of 2009, reporting a 5.7% increase in passenger traffic. January to April traffic continued the same upward trend we have enjoyed for more than 65 months. May and June saw some softening with decreases in traffic over the previous year; however, year-to-date we have experienced a 4.1% increase in traffic – still the best in Canada!

Passenger Traffic

Passenger Statistics table

heres link

http://www.yxe.ca/newsletter/images/.../passtable.gif

Alberta's Swanberg Air to fly into Swift Current, Regina and Estevan


By Anne Kyle, Leader-PostSeptember 16, 2009
REGINA — Starting Nov. 2 an Alberta-based airline will begin offering passenger service to southern Saskatchewan residents.

Swanberg Air will initially fly into Swift Current, Regina and Estevan three times a week — Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays — but the company hopes to eventually expand to five days a week depending on the demand for service, Swanberg general manager Rich Wilde said in a telephone interview Wednesday.

The 14-passenger Jetstream 31 turbo-prop aircraft will fly out of Grande Prairie, Alta. making stops in Red Deer and Calgary before completing its Saskatchewan leg of the journey to Swift Current, Regina and than Estevan. The inbound and outbound flights are scheduled so that people can take advantage of overnight stays, three-day business trips or fly into a centre for the weekend, he said.

“That’s big, if we’ve got somebody flying in from Alberta to Estevan. They’ve talked before about having some kind of service out of Estevan because there’s a lot of oil activity (in the southeast) and a lot of oil company planes coming in,’’ said Estevan Mayor Gary St. Onge.

“It is going to be great for economic development for our city.’’

Commencing Oct. 13 the airline will also be offering a flight connecting Calgary, Red Deer, Edmonton and Grande Prairie and will be adding Dawson Creek, B.C. to its northeastern British Columbia route.

The decision to fly into Saskatchewan was a combination of “gut feelings and market research,” Wilde said, explaining as the former owner of Proflight in Regina he’s familiar with Saskatchewan and the oilpatch activity.

“We have had a lot of success on our existing routes serving the oil industry, connecting Calgary and Grande Prairie and than up into northeastern BC — Fort St. John and Fort Nelson. So we do get a lot of oil industry traffic on that route and we see southern Saskatchewan as a great extension and expansion to our network to help serve the oil industry,’’ he said.

Regina Airport Authority president and CEO Jim Hunter welcomed the announcement of a new service flying out of Regina International Airport’s Prairie Flying Services hanger.

“This means more services for the area and is reflective of the booming economy here in the southern Saskatchewan catchment area, specifically that oil field development down in the southeast,’’ Hunter.∂∂

Swanberg Air has been operating since 2000 providing scheduled passenger service in Western Alberta and Northeastern B.C. as well as freight, hot-shot and on-demand charter services.

akyle@leaderpost.canwest.com

© Copyright (c) The Regina Leader-Post

Can't believe that they would leave out Regina..then again a roadtrip is always appealing to me
___________________
airport limo denver

I haven't read through this thread, and you probably haven't either, but I can tell you Regina now has non-stop flights to Denver and Las Vegas. The latter might be seasonal.

The Salt Lake city to Saskatoon appears to be cancelled entirely.

SLC destinations from Saskatoon are still routed through MSP

The Saskatoon Airport did fairly well in the 3rd quarter:

http://www.saskatoonhomepage.ca/inde...363&Itemid=421

This isn't a real big surprise, as that always was a bit of a dodgy route. What is good to see is that the flights out of Minni seem to be fairly full (at least in coach) for flights in Nov. between MSP and YXE. The same is true for the smaller planes United flies to Denver.