photo op!

https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...58&oe=567A3955

Vancouver International Airport
4 hrs ·


May the force be with us! All Nippon Airways will fly their special R2-D2 ANA JET to YVR on October 18. Vancouver will be the first international destination for this spectacular Star Wars-themed Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft that is every aviation and Star Wars fan's dream: http://www.ana-sw.com/jets/

from the YVR airport facebook page

+2.0% YTD. No official number though. June traffic is up 8.2% compared to 2014, but its all domestic increase. Transborder is taking a beating from YQB.

http://www.aeroportdequebec.com/en/c...on/statistics/

Icelandair coming to YUL with 4 weekly flights starting May 19, 2016.

Can we get some new flights please?

As if WAA gives a crap about that. Maybe if we're lucky we'll get an extra Saturday flight to Calgary.

Pfft! You wish...:burstbubble:

Icelandair has got to show up there sometime soon. Part of their business strategy seems to be to bypass major North American hubs and directly serve secondary cities. The Icelandic population in Manitoba would also support a flight. It's just a matter of time.

Seasonal or year-round?

Seasonal I believe.

I don't think you'd really build a nonstop flight on the back of the Icelandic population here... most of the Icelanders are descendants of those who arrived 100 years ago and there is no real connection to the homeland anymore. There are a few recent immigrants attracted by the Icelandic culture but it's not really enough. Well, I guess it could happen, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

FWIW Iceland Express ran a service to London with a stop in Reykjavik for a couple of summers a few years back so there is a precedent, but it was basically charter service of little use to anyone other than leisure travellers.

I don't really foresee Winnipeg getting overseas service unless it's some trophy once a day flight to London or Frankfurt or whatever just so the WAA could then say "Look! We have overseas service now!", assuming that it ever were to care about such things.

I don't think it would be on the back of the Icelandic community, but it certainly wouldn't hurt. Primarily, I think Winnipeg serves Icelandair's strategy of targeting underserved secondary markets with one-stop service to major European markets. Iceland itself also seems to be growing as a tourism destination for North Americans, at least anecdotally within my group of friends.

Another big piece of the Iceland Air route development strategy is growing air cargo, particularly Icelandic exports of seafood. The bellies of the Iceland Air flights to Edmonton are full of fresh fish and area restaurants are falling over themselves to outdo each other at creating signature fresh fish dishes.

From May 2016 to November 2016.. so seasonal..Using a B-752
Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

WOW air
 

The CTA has just approved a license for WOW Air of Iceland to operate scheduled and non-scheduled flights from Iceland to Canada.

Perhaps this will be YWG's chance then.

https://www.otc-cta.gc.ca/eng/ruling/262-a-2015

https://www.otc-cta.gc.ca/eng/ruling/261-a-2015

press release on KEF-YUL.

Long overdue if you ask me.

http://www.icelandair.ca/information...treal_service/

A very small part of their network strategy is secondary cities. YHZ, YEG, PDX, ANC are all i can think of in NA. Have a look at that map on the official press release. All other destinations in NA are cities with 2+ million people, and which have hub status from one carrier or another.

FI seems to fight competition head-on on most of its routes. Which is why YUL was long overdue as well, in my opinion.

YWG's turn will come. Wait. London is the only route that makes sense. They'll eventually get it. Let's see what WS does with all those B763s. Capacity across the atlantic is up, yields are down.

http://www.flightglobal.com/news/art...yields-415514/

(You need to register to read the full article)

Airlines starting up across the pond or adding capacity need to be creative to carve out whatever profit they can find. I believe YWG-LGW is a no brainer, even at summer seasonal 3x weekly.

Maybe the answer is WS. Or Maybe FI or WW via KEF.

As we approach the 1M mark, it's inevitable that we get at least one overseas connection somewhere outside of NA, likely London. It's not about "Look! We have overseas service now!" It's about keeping our growing local population connect more directly with the world.

You would have to look at what Air Canada does long-term with slots they are using for the London service to Edmonton. That timing of that flight works for Western Canada, I don't think it work for Central Canada. There is a strong Anti-Air Canada movement in Edmonton. If they pull the Edonton London service the Winnipeg has a chance of getting it.

The practical difference between having one nonstop flight a day from YWG to LHR and none at all is pretty minimal... most people headed to or from Europe would still be connecting in YYZ or elsewhere even if we had such a flight.

Although I guess it is the first step to bigger things... after all, Edmonton just had the once-a-day seasonal flight to Europe for years, and now they've recently added AMS as a destination which is a great hub to have access to, as well as the KEF flight which given the mandatory stop in Iceland on the way to Europe, must be a mainly leisure oriented flight? Still, the positive trajectory is there.

I'm sure WS will shake things up once their long haul aircraft enter service.

What do you base this on? Is it simply on comments on the SSP forum?

AC's schedule out of YEG generally doesn't change with flights to YUL, YYZ ,YVR etc. so it must not be a problem filing those routes and everyone that flies the YEG-LHR says it continues to be full regardless of KL and FI entering the market.

No questions Air Canada has a lot of flights out of Edmonton. I don't know what the split is between WestJet and Air Canada but there is a good chance Air Canada still does better.

It is not fair, but for many people I know WestJet can do no wrong and Air Canada is the evil airline. Reality, I find Air Canada does a better job of handling irregular operation that WestJet. Inflight service is a little different but on par.

Edmonton just stands out as being a place where Air Canada gets no love. Here and in other places.

What they do have is a daily slot at Heathrow that is used for Edmonton daily, If not daily they need to send the aircraft to another Western Canada destination.