Canadian Airport Thread II

[nname]

Remember, this year have an extra day in Feb, which is about +1% by itself. So even if the rate of increase remain the same, the YTD should still go down.

[whatnext]

I don’t have a Telegraph subscription so can’t read the full article but somehow think this isn’t the kind of international reknown Westjet was looking for:

Random seat, no bag, last to board: the world’s worst airline ticket has landed
One airline has pulled ahead in the race to the bottom with its “ultra basic” offering – could it become the norm?
Greg Dickinson,
SENIOR TRAVEL WRITER
14 June 2024 • 10:00am

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/n...irline-ticket/

[thenoflyzone]

Originally Posted by whatnext

I suspect there is finally a lessening of pent-up Covid demand couple with tighter household budgets. I wouldn’t be surprised to see flat figures or slight declines across the country.

Weaker increases yes. Declines, no.

At least not this year, and for sure not at YYZ/YUL, or even at YOW/YHZ. A lot of added capacity in these markets. Especially now, with peak summer just around the corner. I doubt YVR will see a decline as well. AC is adding a lot of new flights, especially from YYZ/YUL, but also from YVR to a resurging TPAC market (Japan especially, but also Australia, South Korea, Thailand, etc)

Last month, AC launched YUL-MAD/AUS/STL/TQO/MSY and YYZ-CHS/TQO, and this, on top of some domestic additions as well.

This week is a big one for AC. 4 new routes are starting.

YYZ-ARN
YUL-ARN
YYZ-KIX
YUL-ICN

TS started YUL-RAK this week as well. Earlier in June, Avianca started YUL-SAL, following on the heels of launching YUL-BOG in March. Next week, SY launches MSY-YUL.

Swiss and ITA started YYZ. Virgin just announced Toronto as well.

There is no decline at the big hubs out east. Quite the contrary.

Mark Galardo (AC Executive VP - Revenue and Network Planning) was at an event in Montreal a couple of days ago. Spoke at about the incredible growth AC has had at YUL in the last 20 years. Touched on YYZ and YVR as well.

https://openjaw.com/newsroom/on-the-...-hub/#Montreal

[Dominion301]

Here's YOW's May numbers:

Sector / May-23 / May-24 / % Change
Dom: 287,675 / 294,878 / +2.5% - Flair is only 6x weekly this summer vs 2 based aircraft last summer. YOW didn’t have to really deal with the fallout of Lynx’ failure as they never did get an inaugural flight off the ground
TB: 41,476 / 59,585 / +43.7%
Int'l: 2,200 / 13,932 / +533.3%
TTL: 331,351 / 368,395 / +11.2% - @thenoflyzone, still double digits but below the 13.6% thru April

Sector / YTD 2023 / YTD 2024 / % Change
Dom: 1,161,950 / 1,165,109 / +0.3%
TB: 241,178 / 373,141 / +54.7%
Int'l: 192,929 / 267,350 / +38.6%
TTL: 1,596,057 / 1,805,600 / +13.1% - on pace for 4.63 million, still 1/2 million below the pre-COVID peak

May % of traffic recovered vs 2019 / YTD vs 2019
Dom: 80.5% / 74.9% - I bet at least half of this is YTO-YOW day trippers & overnighters
TB: 106.9% / 110.3%
Int'l: 75.3% / 111.3%
TTL: 83.6% / 84.6%

12 Months Rolling / % Change vs Year End 2022
Dom: 3,206,058 / +18.3% - almost 800K below 2018's record
TB: 708,096 / +272.0% - closing in on 2018's year-end of 720,770 / 2012 at 775K was YOW's record
Int'l: 391,303 / +288.8% - now above 2018's year-end of 387,822 / 2012 at 456K was YOW's record
TTL: 4,305,457 / +43.5% - 805K below 2018's record

It's not surprising that YOW is outperforming all the other majors as this is really a catch up year compared to the peers as AC and WS are still shadows of their pre-covid selves...and the latter probably always will be. AC's YOW "expansion" announcement a couple of weeks ago is really just them restoring the most basic levels of winter service. It'll certainly help YOW's domestic numbers this coming winter though.

[hollywoodcory]

YYC May 2024 Stats:

Domestic: 1,109,728 -0.3 (YTD 4,632,062 +1.14%)
Transborder: 301,102 +9.1% (YTD: 1,419,567 +11.95%)
International: 203,968 +20.7% (YTD: 1,015,957 +12.33%)

May 2024 Total: 1,614,798 +3.6%
2024 YTD: 7,067,586 +4.67%

Domestic is still slow, but US/International continues to rise. With a few more routes to account for (AA to CLT, UA to LAX) as well various upticks in frequency on many routes (including WK to ZRH), will be interesting to see if YYC can hit 2 million in July or August.

[Zmonkey]

Originally Posted by hollywoodcory

YYC May 2024 Stats:

Domestic: 1,109,728 -0.3 (YTD 4,632,062 +1.14%)
Transborder: 301,102 +9.1% (YTD: 1,419,567 +11.95%)
International: 203,968 +20.7% (YTD: 1,015,957 +12.33%)

May 2024 Total: 1,614,798 +3.6%
2024 YTD: 7,067,586 +4.67%

Domestic is still slow, but US/International continues to rise. With a few more routes to account for (AA to CLT, UA to LAX) as well various upticks in frequency on many routes (including WK to ZRH), will be interesting to see if YYC can hit 2 million in July or August.

AA to CLT is a once a week flight for 2.5 months. Not going to have any meaningful impact.

[thenoflyzone]

YUL is expecting nearly 7 million passengers in June, July and August. ~2.2 million each month. It's going to be a shit show on the roads leading to the airport during the evening rush. Let's see if anyone is going to use those new "express" drop off points they speak of. I have my doubts.

https://www.lapresse.ca/affaires/202...al-trudeau.php

Link in french only. Used google translate for the following

Summer promises to be busy at Montreal-Trudeau airport

The summer will be busy at Montreal-Trudeau airport, which anticipates receiving nearly 7 million passengers over the next three months, a record. To limit congestion, most terminal parking will be free for around forty minutes, all season.

“For the summer period, we again expect strong growth compared to last year, the most significant among the major Canadian airports, with approximately 2.2 million passengers per month, in June, July and August,” said Tuesday a spokesperson for Aéroports de Montréal (ADM), Eric Forest.

In a press release, his group insisted that its passenger traffic is “still growing” and that many summer destinations will be added this summer, which is likely to attract even more travelers. In short, everyone “expects a busy summer at YUL,” says the organization.

All this comes while last April, the CEO of ADM, Yves Beauchamp, proposed an “ambitious” plan of 4 billion to resolve the accessibility problems which have so angered passengers here and elsewhere at Montréal-Trudeau last year, after the pandemic trough.

The plan, which extends over four years, includes the addition of parking lots, new boarding gates and the capacity of the landing stage tripled.

It must be said that time is running out. In 2023, the Montreal airport recorded record traffic of more than 21 million passengers, a jump of 32% compared to 2022 and 4% compared to 2019, a pre-pandemic year. The summer of 2023 was particularly busy, with an increase of 8% compared to the summer season of 2019. The administration expects to receive 25 million travelers by 2028.

In the short term, what to know?

Several mitigation measures will be in place this summer to limit road congestion as much as possible, although it will still be significantly present. From the outset, the first level of the P4 parking lot was redeveloped to become a drop-off point, “the West Express”, offering an additional option for unloading a loved one. A shuttle leaves from there to the terminal, a journey of less than 5 minutes. There is also a second alternative landing stage, “the East Express”, near Highway 520 and the Côte-de-Liesse axis. A shuttle is also available from the premises. The two express drop-off points are open between 1 p.m. and 8 p.m.

Since the beginning of June, a free period of 40 minutes has also been offered in “most parking lots” at the airport. The measure will remain in place until September 2024, in order to “limit the phenomenon of circular movements on the site, in other words vehicles constantly turning while waiting for a traveler.

If the passenger you are waiting for has not yet arrived and you have to wait a while longer, CellParc waiting parking lots will be free for a maximum of two hours during the summer season. It is also possible to consult the real-time occupancy of the parking lots available on the ADM website. You can also reserve your space in advance to ensure you can park on arrival.

As for travelers returning home, the airport authority recommends completing their declaration using ArriveCAN “up to 72 hours before your arrival”, which significantly reduces customs processing time.

In November, Mr. Beauchamp confided that his intention is to set up corridors which will speed up the passage through customs of travelers who have duly completed their form on the ArriveCAN application . “We realize that people still associate this application a lot with COVID-19, even though it still helps speed up the process,” he said on this subject.

In short, travelers who fill out their form could go before others. “It is roughly similar to the Nexus program which is already in place, but here, it will be aimed at everyone who wants to collaborate,” illustrated the CEO.

[YOWetal]

Originally Posted by thenoflyzone

YUL is expecting nearly 7 million passengers in June, July and August. ~2.2 million each month. It's going to be a shit show on the roads leading to the airport during the evening rush. Let's see if anyone is going to use those new "express" drop off points they speak of. I have my doubts.

https://www.lapresse.ca/affaires/202...al-trudeau.php

Link in french only. Used google translate for the following

It's a real gong show there right now. Especially arrivals. Took an Ottawa to Montreal bus on the weekend and enterring and exiting the airport was a 20 minute delay from all the traffic. Also interesting that almost everyone got off at the airport. With nearly hourly busses there must be a lot of bus to YUL Ottawa passengers. They mostly looked to be taking International flights.

[hollywoodcory]

Originally Posted by Zmonkey

AA to CLT is a once a week flight for 2.5 months. Not going to have any meaningful impact.

To clairfy, I just mean in general the overall increases plus those 2 routes not flown last year.

[whatnext]

More good PR for Werstjet:

WestJet now charges $25 to book a flight by phone. Are airline fees out of control?
Ottawa plans to make airline fees more transparent, but it has no action plan yet
Sophia Harris · CBC News · Posted: Jun 18, 2024

Jana Fatovic prefers to buy her WestJet flights over the phone to ensure everything goes smoothly. But a recent attempt to book tickets for a family trip to Arizona didn't quite pan out.

While waiting on hold to speak with an agent, a recorded message informed her that WestJet now charges $25 to book economy fares by phone.

"I was fuming," said Fatovic, who lives just outside of Edmonton. "I just feel like it's a big cash grab."

Airline fees are nothing new. But some major carriers have raised the ire of customers by introducing charges for features once included, such as overhead space for carry-on baggage and booking flights by phone....

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/wes...king-1.7236421

[JakeLRS]

Originally Posted by whatnext

More good PR for Werstjet:

WestJet now charges $25 to book a flight by phone. Are airline fees out of control?
Ottawa plans to make airline fees more transparent, but it has no action plan yet
Sophia Harris · CBC News · Posted: Jun 18, 2024

Jana Fatovic prefers to buy her WestJet flights over the phone to ensure everything goes smoothly. But a recent attempt to book tickets for a family trip to Arizona didn't quite pan out.

While waiting on hold to speak with an agent, a recorded message informed her that WestJet now charges $25 to book economy fares by phone.

"I was fuming," said Fatovic, who lives just outside of Edmonton. "I just feel like it's a big cash grab."

Airline fees are nothing new. But some major carriers have raised the ire of customers by introducing charges for features once included, such as overhead space for carry-on baggage and booking flights by phone....

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/wes...king-1.7236421

Wow, it seems like Swoop absorbed westjet and just kept the name and the colors

[Dominion301]

Originally Posted by thenoflyzone

YUL is expecting nearly 7 million passengers in June, July and August. ~2.2 million each month. It's going to be a shit show on the roads leading to the airport during the evening rush. Let's see if anyone is going to use those new "express" drop off points they speak of. I have my doubts.

https://www.lapresse.ca/affaires/202...al-trudeau.php

Link in french only. Used google translate for the following

The La Presse page had more info which was good for additional context. Here's what YUL put out in English: https://www.newswire.ca/news-release...804343322.html

Originally Posted by YOWetal

It's a real gong show there right now. Especially arrivals. Took an Ottawa to Montreal bus on the weekend and enterring and exiting the airport was a 20 minute delay from all the traffic. Also interesting that almost everyone got off at the airport. With nearly hourly busses there must be a lot of bus to YUL Ottawa passengers. They mostly looked to be taking International flights.

Yes indeed the Ottawa-Gatineau/NCR international leakage to YUL is still huge even with a daily AF 350 pulling in loads north of 92%. Heck AF still run the bus to/from YUL. Personally I've always left from YOW though, even if it costs a bit more.

[thenoflyzone]

Originally Posted by zahav

Interesting April stats. The most striking thing to me is the decline in domestic pax in both YUL and YYC (down 3.4% and 3.7% respectively). Both airports also recorded similar declines (slightly smaller actually) in March as well. Someone shed some light on this for me again, I think one reason was Lynx folding? What was the other reason (s) people think? I am curious, as YYC and YUL are very different airports in terms of their focus, airline dominance, pax profile, etc. Yet both had similar declines for two months, I feel like there are obvious factors that I am just forgetting, so someone chime in.

I think it's just coincidence the percentage decreases are similar. That is all. After all, when it comes to domestic traffic, a 3% decrease at YYC is far greater than a 3% decrease at YUL, as YYC handles twice as much domestic traffic.

For March and April, domestic numbers were ~460,000 a month for YUL vs ~900,000 for YYC.

Lynx collapsing certainly had an effect. And it surely affected YYC more than YUL. Flair downgrading domestic flying last winter season probably had an impact as well.

[TheGreatestX]

YEG May Stats

Domestic 512,740 (Year-to-date 2,018,376) 1.4% (Year-to-date -3.1%)
Transborder 77,536 (Year-to-date 375,854) 42.2% (Year-to-date 14.8%)
International 22,556 (Year-to-date 308,229) 2.0% (Year-to-date 19.4%)
FBO 58,252 (Year-to-date 266,470) 7.9% (Year-to-date 11.4%)
Total 671,084 (Year-to-date 2,968,929) 5.5% (Year-to-date 2.1%)

Huge transborder growth, fueled by WestJet

[Dominion301]

WS' AMEs who voted 97% in favour of going on strike have given their 72 hours strike notice. As a result, WS have started cancelling flights.

https://www.newswire.ca/news-release...877910293.html

[Ozabald]

Originally Posted by thenoflyzone

YUL is expecting nearly 7 million passengers in June, July and August. ~2.2 million each month. It's going to be a shit show on the roads leading to the airport during the evening rush. Let's see if anyone is going to use those new "express" drop off points they speak of. I have my doubts.

https://www.lapresse.ca/affaires/202...al-trudeau.php

Link in french only. Used google translate for the following

Does the ADM have a long term plan for growth and expansion at YUL? The airport has a small geographical footprint and is hemmed in by the various autoroutes and the residential areas of Dorval. It seems the Dorval Golf Club is the only viable land available for expansion. Could YMX ever be revived to become the main airport for Montreal?

[thenoflyzone]

Originally Posted by Dominion301

WS' AMEs who voted 97% in favour of going on strike have given their 72 hours strike notice. As a result, WS have started cancelling flights.

https://www.newswire.ca/news-release...877910293.html

30 to 40% pay raise in the first year, and they voted no.

Hope they know what they are doing.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by thenoflyzone

30 to 40% pay raise in the first year, and they voted no.

Hope they know what they are doing.

It certainly gives an indication of why fares are rising and it ain't due to Lynx disappearing. I had heard Flair pilots also got a big bump up in pay to keep them. Does this leave AC in the unusual position of being the worst paying gig right now?

[Dominion301]

Originally Posted by thenoflyzone

30 to 40% pay raise in the first year, and they voted no.

Hope they know what they are doing.

From what I understand, the main point of contention is they're severely understaffed and as WS add more tails this year, it's only exacerbating the situation.

[thenoflyzone]

Originally Posted by Ozabald

Does the ADM have a long term plan for growth and expansion at YUL?

They do. I don't think it's finalized yet, but once it is, it should be published on the website. The last master plan dates back to 2013, so they're due.

They came up with a plan in 2018 (this one, slide 15/16 have good renderings), but quickly abandoned it once they realized the access roads weren't enough.

They announced a new plan last April (this one), and the rendering clearly shows an expanded road network leading to the terminal.

No official document of the plan so far, but it should come out soon I guess.

Originally Posted by Ozabald

The airport has a small geographical footprint and is hemmed in by the various autoroutes and the residential areas of Dorval. It seems the Dorval Golf Club is the only viable land available for expansion.

The footprint of YUL (plus the runway layout) is similar in size and shape to that of LHR, and Heathrow handled 79 million passengers and over 450,000 movements last year. So the footprint is not the problem. How they develop(ed) that footprint, is. So far, their plans were garbage. They seem to be on the right track to rectify it. Let's see.

It doesn't help that Air Canada and Bombardier are sitting on prime real estate, in the middle of both runways. So YUL will never be able to handle 80 million passengers. But it doesn't need to either. A terminal building capable of handling 40-50 million passengers will serve Montreal's needs for the foreseeable future.

Runway layout and capacity isn't a problem. Plenty of room there for additional capacity.

Originally Posted by Ozabald

Could YMX ever be revived to become the main airport for Montreal?

You'd need to inject a ton of money at YMX to make it a viable replacement for YUL. Significantly more money than at YUL. It's not going to happen. ADM made their bed at YUL, now they have to sleep in it.