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Wow. I was not aware Edmonton had all this going on. Cool!

If the number of Manitobans who flew from the US last year (163K) was instead flying through Richardson, we'd have over 3.5M passengers going through. What are we as Canadians going to do about this problem? How do we fix this? Is it government, industry, or both?

If the number of Edmontonians/Northern Albertans who flew from the Calgary last year (700K) was instead flying through Edmonton Int'l, we'd have over 7.3M passengers going through. What are we as Canadians going to do about this problem? How do we fix this? Is it government, industry, or both?

Har har. This isn't just a Winnipeg problem though. It takes money out of our economy. Something like 20% of people flying to the Us fly from US airports because of what are sometimes substantially lower prices. It's costing up money, jobs, and routes. Maybe Delta would fly something bigger out of Winnipeg instead of 6 CRJs a day. Maybe Westjet would have daily direct service between Winnipeg and Vegas. It's a big problem.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jmt18325 (Post 5637763)

US government heavily subsidizes air travel directly (airlines getting funds as required), and indirectly (airports not paying fees/taxes provided they use that money for expansion/upkeep).

That combined with customs fees being free via car and in your ticket when you fly and being hit with double the navigation fees (Navcan and ATO) makes it much more expensive to fly directly from the local airport to the USA rather than drive to the border and fly.

Very little can or should be done here. As a frequent flyer (~20+ flights per year) I'm pretty happy that airports are a revenue generator in Canada rather than another place for my income tax to be sunk into. Airport expansion requires an actual business case rather than just political will (Mirabel).

If you add up all of the transportation subsidies in the USA (highways, railways, airlines, public transit, fuel/energy, etc. etc.) it must be a staggering number. It's going to be very painful when their budget situation makes them turn off those taps.

Well, I hope they do turn off the taps.

airline news ;)

• Video Link

Quote:

Originally Posted by jmt18325 (Post 5638033)

Well, I hope they do turn off the taps.

And I hope our government starts seeing airports as a driver of the economy rather than an asset to suck dry.

Looks like one more airport expansion under construction. Saskatoon Airport Expansion started on April 2. Phase 1 is expected to be completed in July 2013, phase in October 2014. Total cost $ 54 M. (http://www.yxe.ca/reconstruction/faq.php) The web cam also shows some construction related activity going on air-side.

YXE Airport Expansion - Construction Begins

Quote:

St. John's International Airport to Double in Size

St. John's International Airport will double in size over the next 8 years. The Airport Authority held its annual meeting last evening in St. John's. Chair Darlene Whelan says the airport will add some 200-thousand square feet of new airport terminal space to accommodate the province's growing economy.

A record 1.4-million passengers passed through the airport in 2011, more than any other year on record. By 2020 it's predicted that some 1.9-million will pass through the airport terminals.

The airport will double in size by 2020, with some 200-thousand square feet being added to both the east and west ends of the existing building. More terminals, plane space, baggage and passenger areas will be added.

Starting in June, construction will begin on a new airport access road that will replace the road that has been used to enter the airport for decades. The new road will be built further up Portugal Cove road, and will bring visiting traffic to the east end of the airport for access. The existing road will be used for employee and truck traffic only.

She says this year people in the area will begin to notice changes in the airport parking lots as well as the construction of the new airport access road.

The installation of the $26-million CAT 3 ILS landing system will begin in July, and once complete will eliminate fog as a flight canceller for 70-thousand passengers annually.

As the province's oil sector continues to flow and expand, it's expected that all helicopter traffic to and from offshore oil rigs could end up passing through the airport to depart and arrive, instead of using the existing Cougar base now.

Construction and upgrades at the airport are not expected to disrupt airport operations in 2012, however delays and disruptions for travellers are expected to begin in 2013. Whelan says the long term benefits of the airport upgrades will outweigh the short term delays that are expected next year.

She says the current building is designed for 900-thousand people per year, a huge increase from the 1990s. Whelan says the renovations have been designed using a 'conservative approach'.

• Video Link

Source

Pictures

Canadian Airport Growth Comparison

http://www.anna.aero/2012/05/17/cana...th-in-q1-2012/

I sure hope that YYC improves after the epansion. For a city it's size, the airport isn't nearly big enough now. It looks like there is a lot of progress being made though. Hopefully the expansuion will make it a bigger and better airport with a better terminal. :D

Quote:

Originally Posted by I.M (Post 5730239)

I'm pretty sure once the expansion is complete YYC will be double it's size which is pretty huge for a city of it's size.

I just flew out of Bournemouth, UK with Ryanair. It's certainly a smaller airport, but with lower cost airlines, it offers great deals on international flights. This is very common in European countries and the U.S. as well. The total price for the flight to Pisa, Italy and back was £70. One thing I do notice is that many UK and European airports are more "bare bones" than Canadian airports. Do Canadian airports have higher fees because the airports are posher? It's nice to have glitzy airports, but if it drives up landing fees and forces people to drive or not travel as much by air, is it worth it?

Quote:

Originally Posted by rbt (Post 5638020)

If you add up all of the transportation subsidies in the USA (highways, railways, airlines, public transit, fuel/energy, etc. etc.) it must be a staggering number. It's going to be very painful when their budget situation makes them turn off those taps.

The number I've heard is in the ball park of 25 to 75 billion US $. That's pretty big considering the transportation budget is 3% of the total budget.

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