Halifax Stanfield International Airport Developments

[Keith P.]

Looks like a giant serpentine line.

Can anyone tell me exactly what problem this solves? I’m baffled. None of the press releases or news items on this (which all seemed the same) actually explained what it’s for.

[egb]

I think it means that if you’re coming in on an international flight you don’t have to exit the secure area, collect your bags, and go back through security again to get on a domestic flight.

[Summerville]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

Looks like a giant serpentine line.

Can anyone tell me exactly what problem this solves? I’m baffled. None of the press releases or news items on this (which all seemed the same) actually explained what it’s for.

The serpentine line is likely for customs to address passengers that aren’t leaving the secure area.

Looks like they want to mimic the success of Keflavík airport in Iceland. It’s a gigantic hub between North America and Europe.

[Dartguard]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

Looks like a giant serpentine line.

Can anyone tell me exactly what problem this solves? I’m baffled. None of the press releases or news items on this (which all seemed the same) actually explained what it’s for.

Its a copy of your Heathrow experience before you declare entering Britain.

[q12]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

Looks like a giant serpentine line.

Can anyone tell me exactly what problem this solves? I’m baffled. None of the press releases or news items on this (which all seemed the same) actually explained what it’s for.

CBC explains it pretty good:

The upgrade will expand the second floor to allow international passengers to change to domestic flights on the same floor, instead of having to exit customs and collect their baggage as they currently do.

What will change

Pettigrew said the upgrade will allow international passengers that had connecting flights in Halifax to move through the airport to catch their next plane more quickly, giving them more time to visit restaurants and shops.

Additionally, the expansion will accommodate wide-body aircraft, increasing the cargo capacity.

"We've already heard from several other airlines who have expressed interest in once the expansion is complete and actually utilizing the new space," said Pettigrew.

"We're hoping that that comes to fruition and we just continue to build on our international non-stop flight destinations."

A news release announcing the funding also said the project will help draw more non-stop flights, leading to an expected reduction in greenhouse gases of 11 per cent a year by 2035.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/halifax-airport-expansion-simple-international-connections-1.7276824

So by keeping international passengers on the 2nd floor, it's going to save passengers time allowing shorter connection times, a huge advantage. This will make it easier for Airlines to sell tickets (International) with reasonable connection times in Halifax. The Airlines can then adjust flight schedules to take advantage of this new connections facility.

For example passengers arriving from London Heathrow on Air Canada (Star Alliance) or Frankfurt on Discover Airlines (Star Alliance), can connect to North American flights out of Halifax on Star Alliance (Air Canada and United Airlines) with minimal delay.

As the CBC story mentions, this is expected to bring more non-stop flights (especially international).

The giant serpentine line is needed for large wide-body aircraft.

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by egb

I think it means that if you’re coming in on an international flight you don’t have to exit the secure area, collect your bags, and go back through security again to get on a domestic flight.

OK, none of the detail in the CBC story now was there earlier when this was first published. I still don't get it though. So now we will have 2 Canada Customs halls? And how do Customs inspect baggage for those passengers staying in Canada if you don't have to collect baggage? I can see a slight benefit if you were connecting on another international flight but that would be a very tiny number since we don't have many of those. If I am connecting from here to another Canadian destination you would have to go through Customs inspection regardless. There still seems to be a piece of the puzzle missing. I'm often confused it seems.

[q12]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

There still seems to be a piece of the puzzle missing. I'm often confused it seems.

• International arriving travellers connecting to a destination via Halifax Stanfield
  
  ---> Processed by customs (CBSA) in the new ICF where their luggage can be held until passenger is cleared then passenger will go from ICF to departures level avoiding the long walk downstairs and all the way back to the foot court and through the main security with the public to get back to the departures level. Their luggage will then be released by CBSA and picked up airside by the connecting airline.
  
  
  
• International passengers staying in Halifax as their final destination
  
  ---> continue to go through customs (CBSA) and exit to collect their bags as they have in the past.

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by q12

• International arriving travellers connecting to a destination via Halifax Stanfield
  
  ---> Processed by customs (CBSA) in the new ICF where their luggage can be held until passenger is cleared then passenger will go from ICF to departures level avoiding the long walk downstairs and all the way back to the foot court and through the main security with the public to get back to the departures level. Their luggage will then be released by CBSA and picked up airside by the connecting airline.
  
  
  
• International passengers staying in Halifax as their final destination
  
  ---> continue to go through customs (CBSA) and exit to collect their bags as they have in the past.

I still don’t see the benefit other than avoiding a bit of a trek and a second tour of the security theater, which could have been easily addressed with some accessibility changes. With this, it seems luggage is not inspected by CBSA here, so those passengers will need to endure another bout with CBSA at their final destination, just avoiding the admittance to Canada step. This seems more of a benefit for the local CBSA crew than the traveller, except for the time saved here if you are a connecting passenger, though you lose that savings at the other end.