Saskatoon and Regina Air Service

[Crisis]

Saskatoon airport hits record for passengers

No real surprise there. It's interesting the impact that the Febraury break is having on flights in & out of Saskatoon this month. Go onto the Westjet or Air Canada websites and you'll see that there are basically no seats available on any flights out of Saskatoon from the 17th - 19th and no seats available on flights into Sasktoon on the 25th to the 27th.

Don't know if everyone wanting to leave Toontown for that week is a good sign of a healthy economy or just a desire to go someplace warm during the winter...

[Scruff Bucket]

Nice to see Saskatoon Airport so busy!

Happy Family Day! ... Feb. 20, 2012, and short work week thereafter! Happy Spring Break! ...

[micheal]

Originally Posted by Crisis

No real surprise there. It's interesting the impact that the Febraury break is having on flights in & out of Saskatoon this month. Go onto the Westjet or Air Canada websites and you'll see that there are basically no seats available on any flights out of Saskatoon from the 17th - 19th and no seats available on flights into Sasktoon on the 25th to the 27th.

Don't know if everyone wanting to leave Toontown for that week is a good sign of a healthy economy or just a desire to go someplace warm during the winter...

maybe a little bit of both.

[Robag]

Regina Airport Authority (RAA) is pleased to report another successful year at the Regina International Airport with a passenger growth rate of 1.9% over 2010. This translates into a seventh straight record, with 1,141,177 passengers; an additional 21,043 passengers over 2010 numbers. January, February and December saw the most traffic this year with each serving over 103,000 passengers per month.

See the whole article here: http://www.yqr.ca/images/YQReview_Winter_2012.pdf

[SkydivePilot]

This is slightly off-the-topic; however, I have my three dioramas of Regina's airport on display inside the Regina Airport Authority's display case. The large diorama is lit with 3/4 mm LED lights! They'll be on display there until into June. Drop by an take a peek!

[Robag]

Originally Posted by SkydivePilot

This is slightly off-the-topic; however, I have my three dioramas of Regina's airport on display inside the Regina Airport Authority's display case. The large diorama is lit with 3/4 mm LED lights! They'll be on display there until into June. Drop by an take a peek!

Sounds good. I will in a couple of weeks as I have a couple of trips booked up. Looking forward to seeing them.

[SkydivePilot]

Originally Posted by Robag

Sounds good. I will in a couple of weeks as I have a couple of trips booked up. Looking forward to seeing them.

Thank you sir!!!

[Draftsman]

Originally Posted by SkydivePilot

This is slightly off-the-topic; however, I have my three dioramas of Regina's airport on display inside the Regina Airport Authority's display case. The large diorama is lit with 3/4 mm LED lights! They'll be on display there until into June. Drop by an take a peek!

Wow! I saw the news report on CTV Regina this evening and I am truly impressed with your diorama. Great job! I will go out to the airport on the weekend to view it in-person. I remember the 60's terminal and loved its outside deck on the 2nd floor where you could watch -and smell- the Viscounts and Vanguards and DC-9s right in front of you.

Everyone...go check this out!!

[Stormer]

Anyone know anything about this. YQR just awarded a $7 million contract:
http://www.reedconstructiondata.com/...03/21/9150377/
Project Description:

Air Terminal Building Check-in Hall Renovations.
Estimated Value: $7,000,000

[micheal]

Originally Posted by Stormer

Anyone know anything about this. YQR just awarded a $7 million contract:
http://www.reedconstructiondata.com/...03/21/9150377/
Project Description:

Air Terminal Building Check-in Hall Renovations.
Estimated Value: $7,000,000

i believe the rental car area is moving just north of the airport to a new building that is being built for them. im assuming its to renovate that area where the kiosk's are.

[BrannyMuffin]

Originally Posted by Stormer

Anyone know anything about this. YQR just awarded a $7 million contract:
http://www.reedconstructiondata.com/...03/21/9150377/
Project Description:

Air Terminal Building Check-in Hall Renovations.
Estimated Value: $7,000,000

They're moving to a common use terminal which is probably what the renovations are all about...

[Treesplease]

After googleing common use terminal - you mean we are getting common use check in counters like pearson where air canada can use 10 counters if necessary for a flight and 1 hour later west jet can use half the counters for their flights?

Near as I can tell there is also a large IT component to this common use terminal gig - still $7M seems like a lot?

I've never had issues with check in - parking and security capacity would have been my first picks for upgrades.

[kenskca]

Originally Posted by Treesplease

After googleing common use terminal - you mean we are getting common use check in counters like pearson where air canada can use 10 counters if necessary for a flight and 1 hour later west jet can use half the counters for their flights?

Near as I can tell there is also a large IT component to this common use terminal gig - still $7M seems like a lot?

I've never had issues with check in - parking and security capacity would have been my first picks for upgrades.

Not sure exactly what this is all about.If they are following the YQR Master Plan it would be related to phases phases 1 and 2 here:

http://www.yqr.ca/images/corporate/r...007_-_2027.pdf

Pages 82 and 83

Phase 1 (Immediate 1-2 years):
1. Realign road way and approach road to accommodate the 9 metre widening of
the Air Terminal Building front.
2. Construct new front bay and canopy to terminal and commission new airline and
rental facilities on the ground floor.
3. On the second floor the additional area provided by the two storey frontage bay
can be utilized as additional queue area for the existing PBS facility and well
wishers lounge.
4. At the completion of Phase 1, the current restrictive check-in queue depth and
lack of first floor Groundside retailing will have been alleviated.

Phase 2 (Short-term 2-5 years):
1. Construct new south quadrant and reconfigure existing Administration Offices.
2. Construct new escalator/stair unit that retains the existing start point on the
ground floor but switches direction at a mezzanine to allow people exiting the
stairs to flow in the direction of the pre-boarding screening area.
3. Demolish the existing elevator to open up more space for retail on the ground
floor and relocate them adjacent to the escalators.
4. Reconfigure check-in counters and back belt.
5. Construct new expanded PBS facility at second floor.
6. Construct new hold room restrooms, decommission existing restrooms.
7. Construct new airside retail and Air Canada Lounge and decommission existing
hold room retail.
8. Consolidate hold room.

Note: Phases 1 and 2 should ideally occur concurrently in order to address
existing operational constraints.

[casper]

Interesting, it looks like the Saskatoon airport expansion started on April 2. Phase I expected to be completed in July 2013 and phase 2 in October 2014. Total cost at $54 M. http://www.yxe.ca/reconstruction/faq.php.

Construction web cab has the Atco construction trailer, fencing etc. http://www.yxe.ca/cam.php.

Looks good.....

[kalin_10]

Originally Posted by casper

Interesting, it looks like the Saskatoon airport expansion started on April 2. Phase I expected to be completed in July 2013 and phase 2 in October 2014. Total cost at $54 M. http://www.yxe.ca/reconstruction/faq.php.

Construction web cab has the Atco construction trailer, fencing etc. http://www.yxe.ca/cam.php.

Looks good.....

http://www.yxe.ca/cam.php

[casper]

Thanks kalin for the photos....

Real good to see the airport expanding. Does it look like all the planes are still going to be able to park near the terminal during the expansion or are some of them going to on remote standard with the passengers bussed out?

[kalin_10]

There will be gate congestion especially during the morning hour rush, however no remote loading. At the least when no gate bridge is available (down to 4 at this time), ground loading will still be available; however, the day these photos were taken, there were three aircraft within two loading area's and two Westjet Aircraft were only feet apart wing tip to wing tip, which had the Airport Authority scrambling to draw new aircraft lines to avoid these close calls.

[kalin_10]

Airport statistics

Saskatoon International Airport (YXE) 2012 passenger traffic has been building on top of the 2011 record year, with year to date passenger growth at 7.7%.

January 2012 boasts a historic high at over 120,000 passengers (up 7% from January 2011). February also broke past records with over 4000 passengers per day.

Growth is diversified across 3 of the 4 traffic sectors: sun destination charter traffic is up 11%, transborder USA traffic is up 12%, and domestic traffic is up over 6%.

YXE currently ranks as Canada's 11th busiest airport.


www.yxe.ca



YXE Airline News

Sun Charters:
Sun Charter performance has been strong in 2011/2012, with flights at or near capacity. Due to high demand, Sunwing has extended service to Montego Bay and Cancun until May 26. This translates into a 7 month season for Sunwing, compared to the usual 3 to 4 month seasons.

Air Canada: www.aircanada.com
Air Canada continues to serve business traveller needs with multiple daily directs to Winnipeg, Toronto and Calgary. Air Canada's direct service to Ottawa returns May 2, 2012 for daily seasonal service.

WestJet: www.westjet.com
WestJet will extend its Phoenix and Vegas routes: Phoenix service will run Tuesdays & Fridays until April 27; and Vegas service will run Wednesday & Saturdays until June 2 (returning Sept. 5). Commencing on April 30, 2012, WestJet will have 3 weekly flights to Vancouver (Mon, Wed, and Fri).

United Airlines: www.united.com
With daily service to Chicago and twice daily to Denver, United offers easy connections to destinations worldwide.

Delta Airlines: www.delta.com
Delta Air Lines is now offering Wi-Fi service on most flights departing Saskatoon. All aircraft are expected to offer Wi-Fi come midsummer 2012.

Transwest Airlines: www.transwestair.com
Transwest Air is coming off a busy winter season. A busy summer season is approaching with increased gold mine charters, and already strong fishing camp charters.

[Scruff Bucket]

http://www.leaderpost.com/Airport+ex...525/story.html

Airport expansion is just the ticket
By Will Chabun, Leader-Post April 20, 2012

Bob Linner, board chair of the Regina Airport Authority,
speaks during the airport's annual general meeting on Thursday in Regina.

NOW BOARDING
Passenger growth last year rose by 1.9 per cent to 1,141,177,
with 2012's figures ahead of 2011 by about 2.5 per cent so far.

Traffic in and out of the Regina International Airport is growing so quickly that its terminal building will have to be expanded, "certainly by 2020," its board chairman said Thursday.

Bob Linner told the Regina Airport Authority's annual general meeting a reconfiguration of the main-floor check-in hall and second-floor post-security waiting area will start soon.

The second-floor work, which will involve filling in the empty space above the check-in area, reflects that economic and population growth means "we're now reaching congestion - and have congestion at certain periods of time", referring to the scramble to board flights from 6-9 a.m.

He said these changes are being done "to buy time" for the terminal building, last expanded in 2005, but a decision will have to be made at some point soon on the next expansion of the air terminal building.

Because the federal government contributes nothing toward major airports' capital expenditures, the approximately $100-million cost of an expansion would be covered by cash generated by the airport and borrowings, he said.

Also on the horizon is expanded parking, though it's unclear if this will be a parkade, valet parking or a park-and-ride system, he said.

Noting that it's been 15 years since the Regina Economic Development Authority (since merged into the Regina Regional Opportunities Commission) struck a deal with the federal ministry of transport for the lease of the Regina airport, Linner offered an idea for the next stage of airport development.

Referring to development in the adjacent Harbour Landing and Global Transportation Hub areas, Linner said having the airport on leased land makes it tougher to find "complementary commercial opportunities" with other organizations.

So maybe the next step in the evolution of Canadian airports should be some sort of "purchase model" under which airport authorities like Regina's can acquire permanent title to their land, he said.

The airport authority's AGM, held at Evraz Place, also learned that:

. Much of the passenger growth is from transborder scheduled and charter tourist flights, while domestically it has been "flat" because Canadian airlines are at the limit of their capacity and don't have enough aircraft to add flights into Regina;

. The authority is concerned about leakage of Canadian passengers to the Minot airport, served by low-cost carrier Allegiant. That's why the authority developed a marketing campaign extolling the Regina International Airport. The optimal solution to this would be additional flights by low-cost Canadian carriers, said authority CEO Jim Hunter. He added that one consequence of aging Canadian and American airline fleets of regional jets likely will be more flights into Regina by new, high-tech turboprops like the Bombardier Q400.

. The contract for airpoirt taxi pickups recently was won by Regina Cabs, adding from 25-30 cabs to the pool available. "We don't seem to be getting as many complaints as we did in the past," said Hunter, adding that recent taxi policy changes by the City of Regina should help too;

. Total revenues, including the airport improvement fee and revenues from concessionaires and tenants, grew by 4.8 per cent last year, keeping the airport in the black, and;

. European flights from Regina and Saskatoon are still being explored with airlines, but this concept is at least three years away - if it ever takes flight.

wchabun@leaderpost.com

© Copyright (c) The Regina Leader-Post

[SkydivePilot]

Our Saskatchewan airports are getting busier --- and that is wonderful! Yesterday afternoon, I attended the RAA's AGM. Yes, the RAA and SAA are working in concert in order to attract European connections. If successful, the flights would alternate weekly between Regina and Saskatoon. (Therefore further reducing our dependence on Calgary/Toronto etc.)

Moreover, YQR's terminal will soon require a $100,000,000 expansion - for it is approaching full operational capacity now. (Especially during the early morning hours!) This, in the end, will double the size of the existing terminal building. They are looking at five years down the road for that to happen.

Hey, speaking of which, have any of you guys gone to see my airport displays within Regina's ATB? It would be worth it. They'll be there 'til mid-June.