Quote:
Originally Posted by zahav
I'm not sure how much of this was posted already, but it was posted on Dec. 26 and didn't see anything after that on the thread:
AIR CANADA NS24 INTERCONTINENTAL NETWORK CHANGES – 26DEC23
Lots of minor adjustments as usual (ie. switching from an A330 to 787, or starting a route a few weeks earlier). Nothing major as far as I can see. I am happy to see that YVR-BKK was extended again and is now until May 2nd. I have lost track of how many times the service has been expanded from the original plan, but I feel like it's gained significantly compared to the initial schedule (both in operational frequency and in seasonal duration). Would be amazing to see it go year round but that's way less likely; once the main summer season kicks in, the planes are way too in demand to Europe. Maybe with a fleet expansion or very strong indicators for summer travel it could happen, but extending right to the end of the shoulder seasons is likely as far as it goes.
One of the routes mentioned in the link above is YYZ-SCL: Service suspended during Northern summer 2024 season, except one-time service on 14-15APR24 with 787-9 (Previous: 4 weekly 787-8 for NS24. And YYZ-EZE is a one-stop both ways with GRU now. I remember AC did some kind of triangle routing in the past with EZE and SCL, one of the few triangle routes internationally. But I thought they changed to terminator service for both at some point, but can't remember details. But now they have no non-stop to either destination for most of the year. Were the routes just weak overall, or challenging economics? Or just less popular than other routes so the planes were better used elsewhere? It looks like there's no RIO service anymore either (probably originated from the pandemic), and Lima is also gone? I am probably super late to the game with these changes, just didn't realize AC axed so much capacity to South America, I thought it was just Asia Pacific that's been hurt and that everywhere else was growing. But apparently not. I will never lose hope YVR will get a South American route, but the AC cuts are disheartening because it shows they are struggling to keep what they already had, let alone add service from a new airport with more challenging economics... At one point I think Rouge operated to Lima with 767s, and AC mainline had service to Caracas in the not-so-distant past. Obviously Caracas being cut was more about politics and the situation in Venezuela, but still, it's just another negative knock for SA service. I am so uneducated on the market factors, economics, and nature of Canada-South America flights. I always imagined that it's a big market, growing market with strong fundamentals. But the reality seems very different. Not only is Air Canada cutting back, but South American Airlines have such a limited presence in Canada (just the daily flights from Aviance, YYZ-BOG, on a narrowbody). But nothing from the LATAM Group. I know a big part of that is because the airlines are very limited in terms of # and type of aircraft that would work. Brazil is ridiculous, for a country of that size, they don't even really have a proper international airline. The largest, LATAM Brasil only has 11 wide body aircraft, and Azul and GOL barely have international service. Aerolineas Argentinas has very limited international service, same with LATAM Peru. And by international I mean outside South America, ie. to North America, Europe. Very low levels of connectivity relatively speaking, compared to Asia, North America, Europe, Middle East. So I guess I shouldn't be surprised that AC isn't growing, I guess just thought they were starting the market and growing it, knowing they wouldn't be challenged by local airlines there. But even with no competition, they folded. Bogota seems the most robust out of all the airports, but that's probably due to geography and being in the northern hemisphere, and able to operate on narrow bodies. |
I don’t know what you’re talking about. AC’s seat capacity to South America has probably never been higher.
Non stop flights to deep South America (SCL, EZE) have always struggled. This is nothing new. The non stops from YYZ to both those cities are very long and dilute yield. Hence why they’ve often been served together.
Yes, LIM is no more. Recent political unrest affected the flights most likely. Plus LIM is a cargo intensive route, and now that AC has a freighter division, those freighters are probably better placed to serve that route, which they do, twice a week. This being said, TS jumped on the opportunity and currently serves both YYZ and YUL to LIM. Don’t know if it will last, but let’s see.
Recent Political unrest in Chile has probably affected flights to SCL as well.
As for Venezuela, chalk that up to politics as well. Foreign Airlines were having a hard time repatriating US currency out of Venezuela. Hence why a lot of foreign carriers left. AA was one of the last North American carriers to pull out, and the only reason they remained so long was because they were only selling tickets in US dollars at the end.
https://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/n...from-venezuela
So yes, Canada-South America is a big and growing market, and politics aside, is doing just fine.