Air Transat just announced a new weekly direct flight from Québec City to London Gatwick next summer. It will be operated using their A321neo LR

This is a very good new for the airport after last week announcement of YQB-YVR and YQB-YYC on Air Canada

https://www.journaldequebec.com/2021...rtir-du-11-mai

^ Indeed very good news. YQB is on a roll. LGW, and more YYC, YVR are definite pluses for Quebec City.

TS will also be flying YUL-LAX/SFO next summer season, as of May. 3x weekly and 2x weekly service, respectively. Flights are bookable on their website.

Speaking of YQB, TS are going to launch a weekly YQB-LGW summer seasonal on the 321LR.

https://www.newswire.ca/news-release...802494164.html

I think Transat should just name themselves Air Quebec.

Speaking of...

https://twitter.com/theaeronetwork/s...57476231680000

You can't blame them though.

All A330s are parked. Only a fleet of 12 A321s are currently active. They want to concentrate that small fleet on southern routes from Eastern Canada this winter, all the while maintaining service to their niche European markets from YYZ/YUL.

Also, to be fair, several cities in Ontario will get TS service this winter season, including YYZ, YHM*, YXU* and YOW. Also, YHZ and YQM* will get flights as well, this according to their winter 2021 program press release from last June.

https://www.newswire.ca/news-release...870729907.html

It makes sense to make sure all their frames stick close to home during the winter (by home I mean YYZ/YUL).

* Assuming these airports get approval from TC in receiving international flights.

Air Algerie resumes ALG-YUL today, after close to a year without service. 3x weekly A332.

https://flightaware.com/live/flight/DAH2700

Canada is one of 10 countries allowed to operate flights into Algeria.

https://www.iatatravelcentre.com/world.php

Let's see if AC jumps on this VFR route as well.

As far as passenger experience goes, honestly there won't be much difference between an LH A333 or 4Y A333.

You have near identical 2-2-2 config lie-flat seating in business class on 4Y and LH. So no difference there.

You have slightly less business class seats and more Y seats on Eurowings. But still a 2-4-2 config in Y. So not bad. Still only 283 seats in total, according to their website. That's like only 30 more than LH. Honestly, it could have been much worse. By comparison, Transat has 346 or 375 seats on their A333s.

https://loyaltylobby.com/2021/07/27/...ver-takes-off/

https://www.eurowings.com/en/informa...ing-fleet.html

Transat also announced 3X weekly YUL-AMS for next summer. Is it because they cant loose their slot in AMS and the fact that they are now focusing on eastern Canada that they do this? Will this flight go back to YVR in 2023? Is AC now looking at YUL-AMS hehe!! ?


https://nouvelles.paxeditions.com/fr...zUIAA203oqe7eU

Most likely. With the A330s still parked, they can't operate YVR-AMS non stop. It's outside the range of the A321LR.

Depends when the majority of the A330s will be reactivated, and if/when TS decides to base some of them at YVR again.

Probably not.

A Piper PA-28 landed on the 407 near Buttonville: https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/plane-mak...-ont-1.5640564

Thankfully no vehicles were hit and the aircraft appears to be damage-free.

EDIT: Video of the landing: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toron...kham-1.6226951

I don't think was part of the Flair expansion press release that added DEN, BNA, etc., but F8 are also adding YWG-YQR and YWG-YXE, both twice weekly and both starting in mid-April.

Kind of odd given that they will be running 737s on what are typically turboprop routes.

It's not like they've any other choice - their whole fleet is 737s.

But yeah, I wonder the same thing: Is there enough demand? Regina and Saskatoon aren't the biggest cities and they're close enough that driving is an option from Winnipeg. Nor do I think they'd be some place that has the potential for big induced demand for people who don't already have a reason to go.

Then again, a quick glance at flights shows prices at $450-500; most of which require making a stop elsewhere.

I know they don't have any other choice, that's why I think those are weird routes to deploy them on. As you note, YWG-YQR/YXE is considered a drivable distance on the prairies, and most budget-minded travellers will be doing just that... driving. Corporate travellers who don't pay for their flights won't be trading in Air Canada and WestJet for Flair.

I guess we'll see.

WS operated Saskatoon-Winnipeg and Regina-Winnipeg with the 737 before they purchased the Dash-8.

For the first decade or two of operation there was no direct Toronto service from Saskatchewan on WS.

Westjet had a couple of flights that hopped along in the country during their early days.

One would get on in Calgary, hop to Regina/Saskatoon/Winnipeg, hop to Sudbury and then onto Hamilton.

It had a very era-gone-by feel to it.

I don't think any large airline really does anything like it today.

I'm wondering why Flair isn't adding flights to YQB instead, considering it is Canada's 7th largest city and 5th most popular touristic destination.

They are spreading themselves thin enough as it is. Trying to be everything for everyone. With only a fleet of 11 aircraft, they can't fly everywhere.

Also, their presence at YUL, although somewhat decent in terms of destinations, is still pretty weak in terms of frequency, for Canada's second largest city that is. So flying to YQB would be a stretch for them right now.

Flying YXE/YQR-YWG seems like a pretty bad decision. People who prioritize time or are travelling for work will already use the current and much more frequent/convenient WS non-stops than the infrequent Flair flights. And if you want to visit but want to be cheap why not just drive? It can even be done in a day if you're efficient.

They had one flight that was:

London Ontario <-> Winnipeg <-> Saskatoon <-> Calgary <-> Vancouver <-> Prince George

Back then for business I was regularly flying between Saskatoon and London Ontario and between Saskatoon and Vancouver. It was great flight.

The weird thing about it, was the gate staff in London, ON would go in the day before and assign everyone seats. If they did not do that, what would happen is anyone flying from London to Saskatoon or Calgary or Vancouver would always be stuck in the middle.

Winnipeg being a little mini hub for Saskatchewan worked well for WS for the first few year. Even today it should still work. If your going somewhere other than Toronto you still left with a connection. Mighty as well be in Winnipeg.

Given how they've structured the schedules, it's clear that they're going for the extra-long weekend VFR crowd who don't want to waste 2 days out of a 4 day weekend driving. They're certainly not going after tourists with these Prairie routes.