Why on Earth should the government being paying challengers to entrenched incumbents? It's not like Flair was some wizardly new competitor using disruptive technology. In fact it is becoming increasing clear that they were playing fast and loose with the rules to undercut competitors. I feel sorry for any pilots that signed on with them and passed up and opportunity to get hired with a stable airline.

Exactly.

A company like Air Canada adds something to Canada GDP. It is bringing money into the country by selling flights between the US and Europe or Asia.

Funding Flair would be about the government picking winners and losers domestically. It should not be doing that.

That's one thing you don't need to worry too much about. Pilots are in short supply right now, and plenty of other 737 operators in Canada. Those pilots will quickly find jobs with AC, WS, Lynx or Swoop.

What is the lay of the land with regard to terminal construction and expansion in Canada?

The first 20 years of this century were a bit of a golden era for airport growth (although not without a price, as AIFs form an outsized part of air travel costs in this country). Are we now heading into a state of stability where cities will make do with what they have, and airport authorities tackle some of the debt they have accumulated? Are there any significant projects currently under way?

:previous:

All quiet at YQM. There is a master plan for redevelopment, including a new control tower, but no terminal expansion. There is land available for services like a hotel, expanded parking and retail/service centres but nothing is being done right now (at least until things stabilize).

A lot of airports built (except 3 of the big 4) built out expansions that would give them room to grow or grow within the existing terminal footprint (e.g., YOW expanding domestic/international security (and airside retail) by moving it from the second to the third floor). YVR has probably expanded in phases more than anyone else. YYT, YHZ, YQB, YXU, YWG, YQR, YXE, YEG, YYC, YYJ all seem like they have plenty of room for years to come. YFC & YKF were the last to complete an expansion (the former finished during the height of the pandemic when YFC temporarily lost all service). YLW pre-pandemic was booming and announced plans for an expansion to take their capacity to 3 million. It’ll probably still happen just delayed.

If PD were to build a fully banked hub at YOW, with the Government of Canada reception centre moving in a couple of years into a new building from the existing WWII hangar, the YOW terminal could expand northward and fill in the gap in gate numbering (7, 8, 9 & 10 don’t exist). But that’s probably way off as YOW has 3 remote stands available (they’re actually the transborder apron/ground loading gates of the old terminal). Build an extra door down by gate 29 would be way cheaper and shuttle bus pax over to the remote gates. However, YOW will probably need to be up to 7 million pax per year before that’s ever needed. The airport is probably 2-3 years away from getting back to 5 million. If F8 somehow survive, YOW has a shot at getting back to 4 million this year.

Last YVR expansion included gates specifically design for bussing to remote stands. That gives YVR a lot of flexibility allowing for growth without immediately expanding the airport terminal building.

I think YUL is also doing a lot of bussing now as well.

So it sounds like right now we are mostly seeing marginal expansions and changes to the terminals? No big, ambitious building projects?

To be honest costs have gone up so much as a result of all the construction that has happened, that I wouldn't mind a little break from that... I wouldn't want AIFs to go up even more.

YUL should be (re)announcing their commitment to their big expansion later this year, from what I'm told. They have no choice. There is no room left at peak times !

Here's a reminder of what it will look like.

https://www.admtl.com/sites/default/...y_17-05-18.pdf

Work on the REM is ongoing, btw. So that is technically a pretty big project involving the terminal as well, that is currently in progress.

Is there any room for YUL to build a third parallel?

There is some land north of runway 06L/24R that might technically be enough to fit a small 7,000ft-ish runway, but its tight. Also, ADM doesn't even have such plans in place, not even long term. Most of that land has been earmarked for air cargo development. Not runway development.

According to their latest master plan, which dates back to 2013, and covers the period until 2033, the aircraft movements are only forecast to be around 289,000 by 2033, well below what is needed to justify a third parallel runway. The current runway configuration is deemed adequate for the foreseeable future.

(Link in french only).

https://www.admtl.com/sites/default/...al_12-2013.pdf

There are more pressing needs at YUL. Expanded terminal is one, doubling of parallel taxiways and proper high speed exits is another.

Kelowna's terminal is getting an 86,000 sq ft expansion which is significant for an airport it's size (~2 million pax).

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/kelo...on-mass-timber

Turns out AC is taking the last 787 that was designated for WS, LN 1147 C-GWUU.

So AC steals their plane, which probably enabled them to start YUL-AMS in a couple of months. Now they must be really pissed ! :D

Also, TS leased another A330-300. A pretty young one, by their standards, only 9.1 years old.

An Ex. Cebu Pacific and flypop frame. Will become C-GUBO.

https://www.planespotters.net/airfra...-avolon/3x7148

I am not overly familiar with what prompted this, but why does YYZ need to implement capacity limits this summer? Traffic is still not at 2019 levels I don't think, and is there not enough time to increase staffing? I understand when airports like Gatwick and Heathrow have firm capacity limits, but YYZ should have lots of capacity still. Someone had said YUL has been gaining at the expense of YYZ because of restrictions. Is that accurate, or are the two unrelated? It certainly does seem YUL is getting way more new service and destinations than YYZ, is this really due to the capacity at YYZ? I think YUL's growth in terms of airline and destination growth is mostly due to itself as a destination/connection preference, rather than YYZ overflow. But I could be wrong, I am not sure if there's a tight correlation between YUL growing and YYZ stagnating? The odd thing is, AC is focusing on YUL even when WS has essentially abandoned its YYZ hub, leaving AC more dominant than ever! I can't help but wonder why YYZ isn't getting any love from AC or WS in terms of expansion, is it really just due to this weird capacity thing? I am not crapping on YYZ, it isn't a judgement thing, I am just wondering people's thoughts on the motivation. The dismantling of WS at YYZ is significant, I know there's still tons of flights and so many carriers, no doubt. But WS was really committed to a YYZ hub for 19 years, there was time and effort there, it wasn't like Singapore Airlines at YVR, which was always sketchy at best in terms of commitment. WS at YYZ was full on, across domestic, transborder, and especially all the unique sun destinations (even now, that is still an area of strength and might even still allow it to be called a hub?). But these are so leisure, like once a week for some. It's still something, but But pulling out Encore was proof their regional plans never materialized, despite years of trying to carve out a niche. Without Encore, Link, and such a reduced schedule to other eastern destinations, the connections would plummet. Which is why I thought AC would be focusing on filling the gaps and strengthening YYZ after WS, but instead they are giving new routes to YUL.

Eastern experts weight in please, sorry for the long post, I just want to understand the dynamics here.

There's been a number of planned / completed terminal projects among the regional airports in western Canada:

Red Deer Regional Airport received funding through the 2023 provincial budget for a new terminal building sized to support Boeing 737 / Airbus A320 operations, following the widening of Runway 17-35 to 150 ft. this past year. The RFP is to be out in June with work to take nine months to one year.

The City of Prince Albert retained Prairie Architecture in 2022 to complete the detailed architectural design for a replacement terminal building northwest of the current facility. The 33% design presentation is publicly available here. This firm is also behind the recent work at Brandon Airport and Rankin Inlet Airport.

Lethbridge Airport had their grand opening in 2022 for their terminal expansion and redevelopment project. This included an expansion of the passenger holdroom towards the apron, the addition of washrooms in the holdroom, and an overall refresh of its look and feel. A few shots of the pre and post-security improvements are shown below.

https://i.imgur.com/RW1dpJr.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/deZkydr.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/OMJ5AJU.jpg

YYZ's movement caps have only been in place last year and now this year. The bulk of AC's growth at YUL has come from around 2008 to 2020. So that fact alone negates the assertion of some that YUL has been gaining at the expense of YYZ, because during that timeframe, AC grew its YYZ hub as well.

This is correct.

YUL was underserved even internationally before around 2005-2008. AC knew this. Now, Toronto and Montreal are top 6 transatlantic hub markets from North America in terms of seat capacity. YUL is ahead of some big US hubs such as UA at ORD/IAD, AA at DFW and DL at DTW.

So it's only normal that AC exploits that local O&D from both markets. The duplicate routes you see are a clear indication of that, more so than capacity constraints at YYZ. (YYZ-BRU, YUL-CPH/AMS). Let's not forget the duplication of routes started around 2008, when AC added FCO, ATH, BCN, etc from YUL as well.

And this is true not just to Europe, but to Asia and South America as well, where AC has flights from both YYZ and YUL to NRT, GRU, BOG, LIM, etc.

The GTAA are still anticipating staffing shortages all around the airport campus, including with the CBSA. As a result, they’re trying to be proactive and reduce the risk of another multi-week meltdown like last summer. So it’s not airfield capacity but rather people power capacity.

Just like last year, the decision to cap movements was a 3-way agreement between the GTAA, Air Canada and Nav Canada. So it's obvious there are staffing issues at YYZ for all 3 companies.

TC certified WS' 738Fs and they can commence using them: https://www.newswire.ca/news-release...818322206.html

Well Rankin Inlet has needed a new terminal for a few years now.

As for Red Deer, this is purely a political bribe. Why do they need an airport that can handle larger aircraft when you have 2 major airports 1.5 hours down the highway. Yah these may get some sun destinations but may only handle the Private aircraft group from south central Alberta.