Saskatoon and Regina Air Service

[Stormer]

Apparently WestJet will have 3 flights per week YQR to LAS this year, up from two. I am not sure about YXE to LAS.

[Scruff Bucket]

http://www.leaderpost.com/Regina+air...015/story.html

Regina airport gets full-body scanner
By Heather Polischuk, The Leader-Post September 1, 2010

A once-controversial piece of security equipment now stands between air travellers and their flights at the Regina International Airport.

On Tuesday, the Regina Airport Authority unveiled its full-body scanner (FBS), which will work alongside the airport's array of security devices. The FBS is being provided to airports by the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA), RAA president-CEO Jim Hunter told reporters.

"It's one other thing out there that, if anybody is trying to get something nasty onto an airplane, they're going to have to think about, so I think there is a deterrence factor."

The walk-through unit has been installed and staff are being trained.

Hunter said the machine is expected to be in use "not later than next Monday."

CATSA spokesman Mathieu Larocque described the technology -- in use in some Canadian airports since January -- as "a leap forward in terms of detection technology.

"It can detect not only metal, but a non-metallic object that may be hidden under clothes, so there's the technological edge obviously, but there's also the customer service aspect of things," he said Tuesday. "A lot of passengers were not comfortable with the pat-down search, and this is clearly an alternative."

Larocque said 44 units -- each costing the federal government $250,000 -- have been installed at major Canadian airports. Hunter said there was no cost to the RAA.

Larocque said security screening will be done as usual -- initially. On a random basis, or if other scanning equipment picks up the presence of an object, the passenger will have a choice of being patted down or going through the FBS. The FBS scan itself takes about five seconds and reveals concealed objects through the use of low-level radio frequency energy.

Initially, there were privacy concerns because the scanner reveals more than just concealed objects. But Larocque said CATSA worked with the Canadian privacy commissioner, who has since OK'd the device.

"We have a few privacy safeguards that were put in place and the first and probably the most important one is that it's voluntary," Larocque said. "So if a passenger doesn't feel comfortable with the technology, they can opt for a physical search."

Other safeguards include putting the person reviewing the images in a separate room, so he or she can't associate the image with an actual person. Images can't be stored or printed.

"And when we hear 'naked image,' the term is a little bit rich. It's not like a photo of a person," Larocque added. "It's really a black and white 3-D image that shows anomalies on the body ... You're not seeing colours or clear physical traits."

Hunter said it's "hard to say" if passengers should expect delays, but said "we're pretty happy, or at least fairly optimistic, that it's not going to slow down the screening process at all."

© Copyright (c) The Regina Leader-Post

Saskatoon's airport got theirs a while back, already!

[GeneTheMachine]

I noticed on their website Regina International Airport is currently offering a survey for interest in another potential non-stop flight to the U.S. in the future.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/F5MLL6X

[Dan0myte]

I just hope if they make a direct flight to New York they don't use the Newark Airport. Flew through Newark a few years back and the staff there are horrible & their selection of international connector flights is poor.

LaGuardia or JFK please!

[BrannyMuffin]

Originally Posted by Dan0myte

I just hope if they make a direct flight to New York they don't use the Newark Airport. Flew through Newark a few years back and the staff there are horrible & their selection of international connector flights is poor.

LaGuardia or JFK please!

I believe the survey specifically mentioned JFK.

[Stormer]

Regina airport authority is advertising for Allegiant out of Minot. Too Funny:

Concern from Regina airport over cheap American airline

http://www.newstalk980.com/story/20101101/42581

[craneSpotter]

Originally Posted by Dan0myte

I just hope if they make a direct flight to New York they don't use the Newark Airport. Flew through Newark a few years back and the staff there are horrible & their selection of international connector flights is poor.

LaGuardia or JFK please!

Sorry to drop in, but Huh? EWR would be the most plausible for Regina. Hell Regina would be LUCKY to get EWR! After all that's all YYC gets

LaGuardia is not as busy as EWR, and has few International connections.

JFK is busier than EWR, and does have more connections (especially to North Africa/Middle East and South America), but what do you mean by poor selection of International connector flights from EWR???

EWR has daily (some multiple) non-stops to:

AMS, ATH (Athens), BCN (Barcelona), BFS (Belfast), PEK (Beijing), TXL (Berlin), BOG (Bogata), BRU (Brussels), CPH (Copenhagen), DEL (Delhi), DUB (Dublin), DUS (Dusseldorf), EDI (Edinburgh), FRA (Frankfurt), GRU (Sao Paulo), GVA (Geneva), GLA (Glasgow), HAM (Hamburg), HKG (Hong Kong), LIS (Lisbon), LHR (London), MAD (Madrid), ORY&CDG (Paris), PTY (Panama City), BOM (Mumbai), FCO (Rome), ARN (Stockholm), TLV (Tel Aviv), WAW (Warsaw), ZRH (Zurich)

....and more!

carry on

[craneSpotter]

Originally Posted by Stormer

Regina airport authority is advertising for Allegiant out of Minot. Too Funny:

Concern from Regina airport over cheap American airline

http://www.newstalk980.com/story/20101101/42581

Allegiant is stealing some YVR (and Victoria) traffic to places like Vegas/Palm Springs/LA/SF/San Diego via Bellingham International (BLI). Apparently over 60% of the passengers departing from BLI are from British Columbia. Hell, I'm using BLI this winter to save some significant $$$. But, YVR is not working with their favoured airline to combat this yet

Whats interesting is that Alaska/Horizon is also afraid Allegiant will steal some of their Sea-Tac/YVR/YYJ passengers, so they have started serving Vegas daily from BLI...and are adding Hawaii this winter because it is rumoured that Allegiant is adding Hawaii soon using one of the 757's they just bought.

So YQR does have some legitimate concerns with losing some passengers that live within, say, 3 hours of Minot. Especially if Minot is successful and Allegiant adds daily Vegas service and maybe a direct Orlando. But, are there really that many passengers at risk here? The drive from Regina to Minot would be too far for most to bother and I would assume that Regina/Moose Jaw and area would make up the vast majority of YQR catchment. But at the same time, it may be enough passengers to spur better service to Vegas and others from YQR - competition is good!

But yeah, way to bring more attention to Allegiant/Minot with their extra baggage, seat and segment fees YQR people, or, was it Westjet...

[Dan0myte]

Originally Posted by craneSpotter

Sorry to drop in, but Huh? EWR would be the most plausible for Regina. Hell Regina would be LUCKY to get EWR! After all that's all YYC gets

I still stand by my comment. Newark was one of the worst airports I've ever been in in my life.

I didn't even go on to mention the extremely rude security agents or just the general cleanliness of the facilities.

I've never flown into LaGuardia before, but I KNOW it has to better than that.

[djforsberg]

Originally Posted by Dan0myte

I still stand by my comment. Newark was one of the worst airports I've ever been in in my life.

I didn't even go on to mention the extremely rude security agents or just the general cleanliness of the facilities.

I've never flown into LaGuardia before, but I KNOW it has to better than that.

In my short flying history, out of Newark, Atlanta, Lexington, Regina, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Minneapolis, Vegas, Denver and LaGuardia, Newark was definitely worse followed closely by Minneapolis.

[khabibulin]

I am shocked that you rank the Minneapolis airport so low. It is an awesome airport. It is huge and requires some walking, but so does O'hare. It is very modern with lots of amenities and relatively efficient. That's my 2 cents.

[craneSpotter]

Originally Posted by Dan0myte

I still stand by my comment. Newark was one of the worst airports I've ever been in in my life.

OK, fair enough, EWR is certainly not near the top as far as overall facilities and efficiency go. What terminal did you use? There are 3 (each about the size of YYC IIRC), Terminal C seemed pretty decent.

Of course many of the very large US airports have dated (ugly?) terminals/concourses and newer shiny ones. Your experience would, I guess, depend on which terminal/Concourse you go through.

I hope you guys get LaGuardia then

[Hawker]

A note on the economic impact of the Saskatoon airport:

http://www.saskatoonhomepage.ca/inde...189&Itemid=421

Also in the report is news that traffic is up 5.2%, pretty significant considering that there hasn't been any new scheduled routes this year. Would the 'sun getaway' flights be the source of this increased traffic?

[Robag]

That's pretty impressive. Both Westjet and Air Canada have reported higher loads on a year over year basis from what I read on their respective web sites. That will have an impact as well on the positive numbers. We won't see Regina numbers until May sometime.

[Hawker]

Here's an interview with the head of Saskatoon's Airport Authority from last week, talking about expansion, Christmas weather issues and even taxis.
http://www.newstalk980.com/audio/joh...authority-pres

[Robag]

Just heard on the news at noon on CTV, that the Regina airport saw another record passenger load for 2010 with approximately 1.1 million people using the airport. They went on to say, that upgrades this year may include renewing (resurfacing) one of the runways and building a parkade rather than continuing to expand ground level.

Just another example of how this community and the surrounding area is really growing.

[thefourthtower]

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[thefourthtower]

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[The Bess]

link to 3d renderings of new expansion at Saskatoon airport
http://www.yxe.ca/

[The Bess]

sorry wrong link
http://www.yxe.ca/documents/3DRenderings.pdf