Canadian Airport Thread II

[Coldrsx]

Originally Posted by Justanothermember

It's interesting that people say this, because Jasper is only about 40 kms closer to Edmonton than it is to Calgary, which is roughly about 20-30 minutes difference. And Banff is only about 45 kms farther away from Edmonton than Edmonton is from Jasper. So in essence, one could say both Edmonton and Calgary 'have' Jasper.

If you want an analogy similar to the Calgary/Banff closeness, you can say Edmonton has Elk Island National Park, which is only 50 kms away (visitor centre).

Except it doesn't really work like that, with very few Calgarians going north along the 93 (which can be closed or quite sketchy and a much longer drive than the kms suggest) since there are multiple ski hills around Banff + Panorama and Kicking Horse.

International travellers on the other hand often do the YEG-Jasper-Icefield Glaciers-L.L.-Banff-YYC loop and that drives a lot of European travel.

Jasper is also less attractive because of a lack of somewhere like Canmore to pair with it where you can buy a recreational/investment property.

[craner]

I can’t imagine many international visitors are starting their tour of the Canadian Rockies in Edmonton.

I’ve also done the Calgary to Jasper drive on 93 numerous times and never thought it to be sketchy. Can do it in under 4.5 hours. Love Jasper.

[Justanothermember]

Originally Posted by craner

I can’t imagine many international visitors are starting their tour of the Canadian Rockies in Edmonton.

I’ve also done the Calgary to Jasper drive on 93 numerous times and never thought it to be sketchy. Can do it in under 4.5 hours. Love Jasper.

Precisely. I don't know a single non-Canadian who stated they start a Rocky Mountain adventure in Edmonton, but rather start in either Calgary or Vancouver, funnily enough. They do know Calgary because of the Banff/Lake Louise connection, and they know Jasper because of Banff/Lake Louise, not Edmonton. Most don't even know where Edmonton is. And I too have done the Hwy 93 drive numerous times when I lived in Alberta and have never once found it sketchy. Quite the opposite, actually. I'm not saying no one starts a Rocky Mountain adventure in Edmonton, but of the few that do, they are mostly Edmonton locals with maybe a handful of international tourists.

The only other Alberta city that has a city/mountain park pairing as tight as Calgary (albeit on a much smaller and local scale), is Lethbridge and Waterton. Similar distance as Calgary/Banff, and similar drive as Calgary Banff. Edmonton doesn't come close to either of these pairings.

I also love both Jasper and Waterton

[acottawa]

I am probably doing a water is wet post for most people here, but my first international arrival at Pearson in two years. Situation is dramatically better. Canadians are now separated, the arrivals terminals work much better and only ask a few questions. There is no need to talk to a human after entering info into the machine. Baggage was on the belt. I think from touchdown to walking out of the terminal was under 30 minutes.

[Coldrsx]

Originally Posted by craner

I can’t imagine many international visitors are starting their tour of the Canadian Rockies in Edmonton.

I’ve also done the Calgary to Jasper drive on 93 numerous times and never thought it to be sketchy. Can do it in under 4.5 hours. Love Jasper.

I don't know the numbers, but the KLM and now Condor flights certainly have those folks on them and people do that path from YEG-Jasper-Banff-YYC.

[casper]

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

I don't know the numbers, but the KLM and now Condor flights certainly have those folks on them and people do that path from YEG-Jasper-Banff-YYC.

I though the big thing with many of these Europeans was fly into Vancouver or Calgary, rent a motorhome and drive through the Rockies during the summer.

In the winter, it use to be the case if you were from Switzerland it was cheaper to fly to Canada and ski in Lake Louise that the Alps. Not certain if that it is still the case.

[Myst]

It’s more of a niche attraction, but the Via Rail Canadian is a good reason for people to choose Edmonton as a departure point for Jasper.

Waterton is a gem, but I’d say less known than Jasper.

[worldlyhaligonian]

Originally Posted by casper

I though the big thing with many of these Europeans was fly into Vancouver or Calgary, rent a motorhome and drive through the Rockies during the summer.

In the winter, it use to be the case if you were from Switzerland it was cheaper to fly to Canada and ski in Lake Louise that the Alps. Not certain if that it is still the case.

That could never be true. The cost of a bus or a train plus the ticket in Switzerland would be less money than a 1 way flight to anywhere in Canada (this is assuming the person lives in Switzerland).

[Justanothermember]

Originally Posted by Myst

It’s more of a niche attraction, but the Via Rail Canadian is a good reason for people to choose Edmonton as a departure point for Jasper.

Except that VIA Rail takes people directly TO Jasper, so it wouldn't make much sense to get dropped off in Edmonton and then drive to Jasper when you can get dropped off directly at Jasper VIA Rail station. So being 'niche' for what you proposed is likely an overstatement of the reality on the ground.

[shreddog]

Originally Posted by casper

In the winter, it use to be the case if you were from Switzerland it was cheaper to fly to Canada and ski in Lake Louise that the Alps. Not certain if that it is still the case.

FWIW, this past February I stayed in an Austrian village much nicer than Whistler for about $200 CAD night and skied mountains equal to W-B for under $90 CAD a day. Food and beer prices are cheaper or comparable to Whistler.

[hollywoodcory]

WS announced a few new winter routes today:
https://www.westjet.com/en-ca/news/2...as-canada-s-le

Effective November 18:
WS1350 YWG 08:00 - 13:23 FLL 737 1
WS1351 FLL 14:10 - 17:53 YWG 737 1

Effective November 9:
WS1712 YVR 23:30 - 08:23+1 FLL 737 6
WS1713 FLL 10:35 - 14:28 YVR 737 7

Effective November 9:
WS2034 YYZ 09:00 - 12:40 TQO 737 346
WS2035 TQO 14:45- 18:58 YYZ 737 34
WS2035 TQO 17:35 - 21:48 YYZ 737 6

Effective November 9:
WS2320 YYC 08:55 - 15:40 TQO 737 6
WS2321 TQO 14:45 - 18:56 TQO 737 6

Effective November 9:
WS2450 YWG 08:00 - 11:52 SJD 737 6
WS2451 SJD 13:00 - 18:30 YWG 737 6

Effective December 13:
WS2166 YLW 10:30 - 16:07 MZT 737 5
WS2167 MZT 17:10 - 20:54 YLW 737 5

They also announced YYZ-Grenada, but its currently not loaded for sale.

Also WS employees were told of this a few weeks ago in an internal memo but its finally become public, the WG integration has been delayed to the S25 schedule beginning April 27, 2025

https://www.flightglobal.com/strateg...158373.article

[Myst]

Originally Posted by Justanothermember

Except that VIA Rail takes people directly TO Jasper, so it wouldn't make much sense to get dropped off in Edmonton and then drive to Jasper when you can get dropped off directly at Jasper VIA Rail station. So being 'niche' for what you proposed is likely an overstatement of the reality on the ground.

If you are a tourist taking the train, the appeal is Jasper (and the Rockies in general). But you are likely either taking the train from Edmonton to Vancouver, or Vancouver to Edmonton. Either way YEG marketing itself as a gateway to Jasper is quite logical.

[samuelx88]

Westjet is launching "Vacances Westjet Québec" for Sunwing and Westjet flights departing YQB, YUL and YBG

https://www.newswire.ca/news-release...897482825.html

[thewave46]

Originally Posted by samuelx88

Westjet is launching "Vacances Westjet Québec" for Sunwing and Westjet flights departing YQB, YUL and YBG

https://www.newswire.ca/news-release...897482825.html

The fact that Westjet has decided to wind down Sunwing instead of capitalizing on the brand seems one of the more boneheaded moves of Onex's ownership. Especially in Quebec, where the Westjet brand is fairly weak.

One would think that keeping Sunwing as the exclusive provider of cheap sun vacations and keeping Westjet more focused on mainline destinations (kind of a AC/AC Rouge-like system) would be the way to success.

Air Transat and AC Rouge send their thanks, I suppose.

[Dominion301]

Originally Posted by thewave46

The fact that Westjet has decided to wind down Sunwing instead of capitalizing on the brand seems one of the more boneheaded moves of Onex's ownership. Especially in Quebec, where the Westjet brand is fairly weak.

One would think that keeping Sunwing as the exclusive provider of cheap sun vacations and keeping Westjet more focused on mainline destinations (kind of a AC/AC Rouge-like system) would be the way to success.

Air Transat and AC Rouge send their thanks, I suppose.

Part of the takeover is WS are required to keep the Sunwing Vacations name for at least five years. This is merely introducing a complimentary overlap clone to see how the Quebec marketplace responds or whether there's value in keeping the Sunwing name around permanently. My guess is it'll be the latter and the WS Vacations Quebec will be a secondary channel to sell packages on the exact same aircraft/routes.

[Dominion301]

The official grand opening of PD's new YOW hangar was held today: https://www.businesswire.com/news/ho...intenance-Base

[LO 044]

Originally Posted by Dominion301

Part of the takeover is WS are required to keep the Sunwing Vacations name for at least five years. This is merely introducing a complimentary overlap clone to see how the Quebec marketplace responds or whether there's value in keeping the Sunwing name around permanently. My guess is it'll be the latter and the WS Vacations Quebec will be a secondary channel to sell packages on the exact same aircraft/routes.

I think they should merge the names for the vacation portion and call it "WestWing". It would be yuuuuge.

[Djeffery]

Originally Posted by LO 044

I think they should merge the names for the vacation portion and call it "WestWing". It would be yuuuuge.

Aaron Sorkin can write the commercials and Martin Sheen can star in them lol.

[Dominion301]

Originally Posted by LO 044

I think they should merge the names for the vacation portion and call it "WestWing". It would be yuuuuge.

AileOuest Québec doesn't quite have the same ring to it.

[Dominion301]

YOW's April pax stats:

Sector / Apr-23 / Apr-24 / % Change
Dom: 232,650 / 237,243 / +2.0%
TB: 52,247 / 73,984 / +41.6% - beats the previous April record of 71,958 from 2013
Int'l: 28,488 / 41,562 / +45.9% - 3rd best April - pretty good considering WG ended their season the 1st week of April instead of at the more typical end of the month
TTL: 313,385 / 352,789 / +12.6% - recovered to just behind April 2010's 356,707

Sector / YTD 2023 / YTD 2024 / % Change
Dom: 874,275 / 870,231 / -0.5%
TB: 199,702 / 313,556 / +57.0%
Int'l: 190,729 / 253,418 / +32.9%
TTL: 1,264,706 / 1,437,205 / +13.6% - currently on pace for 4.65 million pax - bet that's mostly lost Toronto day tripper traffic

April % of traffic recovered vs 2019 / YTD vs 2019
Sector / Traffic % recovered April 2024 vs April 2019 / Traffic % recovered YTD 2024 vs YTD 2019
Dom: 73.8% / 73.2% - huge laggard until PD hits their summer peak
TB: 108.6% / 111.0%
Int'l: 129.1% / 114.3%
TTL: 83.7% / 84.9%

12 Months Rolling / % Change vs Year End 2022
Dom: 3,198,855 / +18.1%
TB: 689,987 / +262.5%
Int'l: 379,571 / +277.1%
TTL: 4,268,413 / +42.3%