Ya, maybe I'm getting worked up over nothing. I imagined westjet/swoop would end up like ac/rouge, where all of ywg's service is on rouge. I hope you are right about swoops destinations.

I think the flights to AZA will get swooped rather then PHX.

Does YWG have any Rouge service? I thought all AC destinations out of YWG were either mainline or Express?

I never even realized that Swoop wasn't going to be integrated into WS's network, thanks for pointing that out. I always thought it would be a Rouge situation as well! Wow that is a surprise for me, but makes sense now that I realize how it was planned. And makes me hope many routes do not get Swooped... It makes sense for point to point services like YXX, but would be annoying for YYC, YYZ, and YVR with all the various network feeds.

You are right, I meant express. It's all crappier-than-normal flying. I still say Jazz from time to time too.

It looks like from a consumer perspective they are going to look and feel like independent companies. They are not running the same computer reservation systems.

Flair makes Edmonton it's new hometown (hub)


Flair will be transitioning its corporate offices from Kelowna BC, to Edmonton, AB. Tait stated that "This is really the only place for us to be in Canada, from an economic standpoint & a growth standpoint”. Flair claims that this move will create 75 jobs when the move is complete and around 300 later on.

65% of Flair's current routes go through Edmonton and this shows its ambitions for Edmonton for now and in the future.

Flair Press: https://www.newswire.ca/news-release...685943001.html

Hopefully this doesn't mean fewer or more expensive flights to and from Kelowna - I really wish it was easier to get there from the US.

Overall, with the new ULCCs it will be interesting to see if they go through the same experience that Wind had, where lots of people complained about mobile prices but relatively few actually switched to the new players! Combined with inept government support to their stated intention to support competition and the end result was essentially no long-term change in the price of mobile in Canada :(.

YUL numbers for May are up.

https://www.admtl.com/sites/default/...et_2018_EN.pdf

Total : 1 519 201 (up 7.7% YoY)
Domestic : 607 859 (up 4.4% YoY)
International : 555 828 (up 9.9% YoY)
Transborder : 355 514 (up 11.7% YoY)

WestJet's discount airline Swoop makes maiden flight from Hamilton

1st flight Wednesday takes passengers from Hamilton to Abbotsford, B.C.

CBC News · Posted: Jun 19, 2018

WestJet's discount airline Swoop took to the air on its maiden flight from Hamilton at 5:45 a.m. ET Wednesday, arriving on time in Abbotsford, B.C., at 7:42 a.m. PT.

But before that, the carrier took some time Tuesday to celebrate and cut some cake.

"The time is right for Hamilton," Swoop president Steven Greenway told CBC News.

Greenway said John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport is where the airline chose to locate its first base, because the city ticks all the boxes in terms of ultra low-cost carriers. It's a small airport, it's not congested, it's simple to operate from, and the team there "wooed" Swoop to Hamilton.

...

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamil...line-1.4712425

Wind (now renamed Freedom) is finally starting to take off now that they have a secure source of capital. They are rapidly growing, expanding their network (their GTA coverage zone now extends to Brantford, Niagara, and Peterborough) and are starting to form a serious threat to the big 3 in the cities in which they operate. The big data promotion the big 3 did last Christmas was entirely in response to competition from Freedom.

Great results. It's going to be a very busy summer at YUL !

On another note, here is the latest plan ADM released concerning the tearing down of the multi-level car park, and the expansion of the roadways leading up to the terminal building. In short, it's going to be a nightmare for people dropping off/picking up passengers by car.

Link in french only. Pages 27+

https://www.admtl.com/sites/default/...e_17-05-18.pdf

Norwegian will start daily DUB-YHM on 31 March 2019 with B737 Max 8.

http://www.travelextra.ie/norwegian-...ublin-airport/

^ and Montréal in November.

http://www.air-journal.fr/2018-06-21...edium=facebook

Indeed. PTP starts Nov 2. FDF Nov 1.

PTP0800-1145YUL B738 135
YUL1255-1850PTP B738 135

FDF0800-1205YUL B738 246
YUL1325-1925FDF B738 246

Except that they refer to YHM as “Hamilton-Toronto” which might be confusing to travellers. I get that this is normal in Europe (eg: London Gatwick, London Heathrow) but not so normal here. I’ve never heard a Canadian referring to YHM as Hamilton-Toronto!

Canadians generally have some idea where Hamilton is... Europeans will need a little context.

The should be pushing Metrolinx to Add go service to the airport around these flights. Send the 40 from Aldershot at least several times a day so people from GTA can connect, and vice versa. A connection to Aldershot makes heading downtown Toronto substantially easier. Plus the 40 runs through a lot of the 905 up to Richmond hill.

Stewert airport 100 miles north of NYC has I think 5 Norwegian destinations to Europe. Hamilton can be something similar in several years. Stewert has $20 bus rides to NYC, I think hourly.

With better transit links to downtown Toronto, it would be fine to market Hamilton as a "Toronto" airport. It can't be much further than London Stansted is to central London.
Ideally CYHM would have a train station at the Terminal that links directly to the Lakeshore West line.

We never really talk about our region airlines much. But in an area that the only means of travel is the air this is a major move. Rankin is susceptible to high winds so it will be interesting to see how many days are not flyable.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/...ight-1.4716383

First Flair and now Swoop kinda sorta.
---

“Edmonton is a market keen to enjoy the ultra-low-cost fares Swoop provides,” said Steven Greenway, Swoop president and chief executive officer.

“This, along with Edmonton International Airport Authority’s support, has meant that we’ve chosen Edmonton as our second operational base. Swoop, as an Alberta-born organization, is thrilled to be in Edmonton as a second home and looks forward to providing more flight choices as well as the economic benefits that air service provides in the form of jobs, tourism and connecting economies.”

As of October, Swoop will base two of its Boeing 737-800 aircraft in Edmonton, resulting in the creation of almost 90 jobs in the region.

https://www.skiesmag.com/press-relea...from-edmonton/