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.

[caveat.doctor]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

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.

It would just bring the practice up to what is already done at other airports in Canada on international arrival and transfer to domestic. Your checked bags are held on arrival pending your getting cleared through CBSA. CBSA decides to inspect the luggage on first arrival to Canada, or not. You go through the connections CBSA agents, they do their thing, and if they decide to look at your checked bags, they pull it from the holding area before you (and your bag) go to your connecting flight. If they choose to not inspect, it just gets passed along to the airline to the next leg. Even if there are CBSA agents at the next domestic airport on the itinerary, they don't inspect the bags anymore once passed to the airline for the domestic leg.

[Keith P.]

I guess I must be dense, because even with the various explanations, it still seems like a very slow and convoluted process. Perhaps CBSA needs to engage some engineers to design a workflow and layout that makes sense.

[Dartguard]

Originally Posted by caveat.doctor

It would just bring the practice up to what is already done at other airports in Canada on international arrival and transfer to domestic. Your checked bags are held on arrival pending your getting cleared through CBSA. CBSA decides to inspect the luggage on first arrival to Canada, or not. You go through the connections CBSA agents, they do their thing, and if they decide to look at your checked bags, they pull it from the holding area before you (and your bag) go to your connecting flight. If they choose to not inspect, it just gets passed along to the airline to the next leg. Even if there are CBSA agents at the next domestic airport on the itinerary, they don't inspect the bags anymore once passed to the airline for the domestic leg.

You just described what I went through after returning from Arizona through Pearson and onward to Halifax as connecting passengers were kept on the higher level to just confirm our connecting flights and straight to the domestic connector. The Stanfield plans illustration reminds me of the reception facility at Heathrow.

[eastcoastal]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

I guess I must be dense, because even with the various explanations, it still seems like a very slow and convoluted process. Perhaps CBSA needs to engage some engineers to design a workflow and layout that makes sense.

Luggage would be inspected in this new facility - when you get to your final domestic destination, no additional CBSA checks required, you'd just deplane as usual.

If I was arriving from Heathrow and continuing to Charlottetown, I'd deplane and go through a special connections customs facility - no need to collect my bags, they're scanned separately. If my interview causes concern, my bags would be pulled from the queue and my bags and I would be transferred to secondary inspection for a more thorough questioning and review. If my bags caused concern, again, my bags would be pulled from the queue and my bags and I would be transferred to secondary inspection for a more thorough questioning and review. If neither my bags nor I cause concern, we continue on our way to the gate for my Charlottetown flight.

The separate screening of bags and passengers is similar to how US Preclearance works in Halifax.

[Zmonkey]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

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.

This is what happens at major airports in Canada now. Calgary, Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver all have transfer areas that save time and make connections easier.

CBSA will have option to review bags in Halifax. Nothing will happen at your end destination in Canada. You arrive as a domestic. Again, exactly how its done in other airports in Canada now.

If you fly Rome - Toronto - Ottawa. You don't see your bag until you are in Ottawa, you stay airside the entire way in Toronto and get dumped into the domestic gates after a customs check. Now the same thing will happen in Halifax.

[Keith P.]

It's not the concept itself that I'm baffled by. It's the redundancy. IIRC there are currently a baggage claim and CBSA hall on the lower level. Now they are apparently duplicating that on the second level. I don't see the point. Are they moving all international arrivals upstairs? That would make some sense, though it would make the lower level CBSA hall redundant.

[eastcoastal]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

It's not the concept itself that I'm baffled by. It's the redundancy. IIRC there are currently a baggage claim and CBSA hall on the lower level. Now they are apparently duplicating that on the second level. I don't see the point. Are they moving all international arrivals upstairs? That would make some sense, though it would make the lower level CBSA hall redundant.

In the new scenario, there is no baggage claim on the upper level. Unless there is a problem and you and/or your bags trigger secondary screening.

It would be a separate bag handling process and means passengers don't need to leave a secure area, which means they don't need to be rescreened to re-enter a secure area. I understand there are significant perceptions of problems from passengers who have to leave and re-enter for their domestic flights when they get to security and it is timed when there's a bunch of WestJet flights scheduled, so they end up in one of the few long lines that happen at security.