Atlantic Canada airport thread

[sailor734]

Sounds like a bit of a pricey way to go looking at those fares. Are the all return or just Boston I wonder? Also, Pascan looks about as small and sketchy as you can get and still be a scheduled “airline.” I,ve flown on a 340 years ago and they aren’t the greatest….noisy and a fair bit of vibration. I can’t imagine they are any better at 40 years old. I’d probably drive to Hfx before I’d use them unless it was winter and I had concerns about road conditions.

Interline is usually quite expensive vs a codeshare on airlines that belong to the same alliance.

[q12]

Pascan starting up Saab 340 service between Halifax and Sydney in October. 2x Daily Mon-Fri, 1x Daily Sun

Pascan (P6 920) Departs YQY (Sydney) 8:00 am arrives YHZ (Halifax) 8:45 am
Pascan (P6 924) Departs YQY 2:45 am arrives YHZ 3:30 pm

Pascan (P6 923) Departs YHZ 10:00 am arrives YQY 10:45 am
Pascan (P6 919) Departs YHZ 8:20 pm arrives YQY 9:05 pm

[sailor734]

Originally Posted by q12

Pascan starting up Saab 340 service between Halifax and Sydney in October. 2x Daily Mon-Fri, 1x Daily Sun

Pascan (P6 920) Departs YQY (Sydney) 8:00 am arrives YHZ (Halifax) 8:45 am
Pascan (P6 924) Departs YQY 2:45 am arrives YHZ 3:30 pm

Pascan (P6 923) Departs YHZ 10:00 am arrives YQY 10:45 am
Pascan (P6 919) Departs YHZ 8:20 pm arrives YQY 9:05 pm

Kind of thought that's what the Sydney announcement was going to be.

As always, it will all depend on pricing and the ability to connect onwards.
Although, the timing looks good for people wanting to spend the day in HFX for business or medical appointments etc.
Driving time from Sydney is an extra hour or more to YHZ compared to Saint John and much of the trip is on 2 lane highway so that may also help to drive traffic on the new service.

[q12]

Originally Posted by sailor734

Kind of thought that's what the Sydney announcement was going to be.

As always, it will all depend on pricing and the ability to connect onwards.
Although, the timing looks good for people wanting to spend the day in HFX for business or medical appointments etc.
Driving time from Sydney is an extra hour or more to YHZ compared to Saint John and much of the trip is on 2 lane highway so that may also help to drive traffic on the new service.

Only about 15-20 minutes in the difference now.

Drive time from CBRM is roughly about 3 Hour and 45-50 minutes(depending where you leave from) to YHZ now thanks to the newly opened twinned highway between New Glasgow and Antigonish.

It's 3 hour 30 mins from Saint John to YHZ so not a big difference other than the Cape Breton 2-lane sections as you said.

[Bishop2047]

Originally Posted by q12

Only about 15-20 minutes in the difference now.

Drive time from CBRM is roughly about 3 Hour and 45-50 minutes(depending where you leave from) to YHZ now thanks to the newly opened twinned highway between New Glasgow and Antigonish.

It's 3 hour 30 mins from Saint John to YHZ so not a big difference other than the Cape Breton 2-lane sections as you said.

May be more beneficial if/when more flights from the Maritimes are going into YHU. I cant see many taking a flight to YHZ just to then also have to drive the nearly 1 hour to the city core (traffic depending). Connecting flights are a must for this to be sustainable, and perhaps will be.

The NB-NS Pascan route from Bathurst-Saint John-Halifax would also be so much better if it also had YHU on either end.

I want competition and would love to see them thrive but you have to get give people a reason to fly with you.

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

Originally Posted by DyAm00394

How Saint John Airport will connect to London, Vancouver and New York



https://tj.news/new-brunswick/andrew...r-and-new-york

4 hours to Boston via Halifax is at least better than flying via Toronto or Montreal, but its still barely quicker than just driving to Boston from SJ, especially once you take into account driving to the airport and getting there at least an hour early.

I’d still rather just drive all the way down to Boston, or to the Amtrak or Bus Station. Hopefully one day we can see the return of a direct flight to Boston from YSJ.

London seems like a decent option, though, and with no backtracking. Will be interesting to see the price.

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

Originally Posted by Bishop2047

May be more beneficial if/when more flights from the Maritimes are going into YHU. I cant see many taking a flight to YHZ just to then also have to drive the nearly 1 hour to the city core (traffic depending). Connecting flights are a must for this to be sustainable, and perhaps will be.

The NB-NS Pascan route from Bathurst-Saint John-Halifax would also be so much better if it also had YHU on either end.

I want competition and would love to see them thrive but you have to get give people a reason to fly with you.

More flights to Montreal would be great. It’s crazy what AC often charges for flights between YSJ and YUL, especially compared to what Flair charges for flights to Toronto from Saint John, which is twice the distance of Montreal.

It’s a shame Porter has yet to return to YSJ. A Pascan flight to Montreal would be far more useful for most people in SJ… I guess they’re targeting business travellers almost exclusively with this Halifax flight.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by EnvisionSaintJohn

4 hours to Boston via Halifax is at least better than flying via Toronto or Montreal, but its still barely quicker than just driving to Boston from SJ, especially once you take into account driving to the airport and getting there at least an hour early.

I’d still rather just drive all the way down to Boston, or to the Amtrak or Bus Station. Hopefully one day we can see the return of a direct flight to Boston from YSJ.

London seems like a decent option, though, and with no backtracking. Will be interesting to see the price.

About 6.5 hours from SJ to Boston by my reckoning, and you get to keep your car so you can go exploring.

A connecting flight from SJ to Boston via Halifax had better be pretty enticing to be competitive.

But, having a car in a congested city like Boston can be a pain in the ass. I have often wondered about driving to Brunswick and taking the Amtrak Downeaster into Boston. From SJ, it is about a 4 hour drive to Brunswick, then another 3 hours on the train to Boston.

In a few years, the Downeaster may terminate in Bangor. They are exploring extending the route. That's only a 2.5 drive from SJ. This could be even more attractive.

[sailor734]

Haven’t done the Amtrak thing into Boston but I know people who ditched their car in Connecticut and took the train into NYC to void the insane parking costs at Manhattan hotels.

[CharlotteCountyLogan]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

About 6.5 hours from SJ to Boston by my reckoning, and you get to keep your car so you can go exploring.

A connecting flight from SJ to Boston via Halifax had better be pretty enticing to be competitive.

But, having a car in a congested city like Boston can be a pain in the ass. I have often wondered about driving to Brunswick and taking the Amtrak Downeaster into
Boston. From SJ, it is about a 4 hour drive to Brunswick, then another 3 hours on the train to Boston.

In a few years, the Downeaster may terminate in Bangor. They are exploring extending the route. That's only a 2.5 drive from SJ. This could be even more attractive.

I've taken the downeaster from Freeport a couple of times and it's great. It might take longer than driving but it removes having to drive your car in Boston plus trying to find parking.
A extension to Bangor would be even better. Would make a quick weekend trip to Boston more desirable

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

About 6.5 hours from SJ to Boston by my reckoning, and you get to keep your car so you can go exploring.

A connecting flight from SJ to Boston via Halifax had better be pretty enticing to be competitive.

But, having a car in a congested city like Boston can be a pain in the ass. I have often wondered about driving to Brunswick and taking the Amtrak Downeaster into Boston. From SJ, it is about a 4 hour drive to Brunswick, then another 3 hours on the train to Boston.

In a few years, the Downeaster may terminate in Bangor. They are exploring extending the route. That's only a 2.5 drive from SJ. This could be even more attractive.

Yeah, having a car in Boston can be a major pain in the ass/ quite costly unless you’re staying outside the city at a hotel with free parking, but even then it’s more convenient to use the MBTA and not having to be arsed with parking in downtown Boston, let alone having to worry about drinking and driving.

I like driving down to Bangor or Augusta and taking the bus to Boston, it’s just as convenient as the train, and surprisingly spacious and comfortable, or at least the Greyhound is. The problem with the bus is parking, but if you stay at a hotel in Bangor or Augusta you can work out free parking for your vehicle until your return. You could probably even work out a deal for parking with a hotel for a fee if you don’t stay there.

The big benefit of taking the Amtrak is free long term parking, and it’s never been an availability issue in Brunswick the few times I’ve done it, but I guess it can be an issue in Portland.

The nice thing about both the bus and train is that they both take you right to TD Garden. You should definitely take the trip sometime… the bus can be quite a good option if you can figure out the parking piece.

What we really need… is a bus service from NB to Boston, or at least to Bangor. The Porter flight to Boston from Fredericton via Toronto is just silly A bus service between New Brunswick and New England just makes too much sense to not pursue.

[TitleRequired]

Originally Posted by EnvisionSaintJohn

What we really need… is a bus service from NB to Boston, or at least to Bangor. The Porter flight to Boston from Fredericton via Toronto is just silly A bus service between New Brunswick and New England just makes too much sense to not pursue.

It was awesome when it existed. Used to take smt down to Portland on the weekend schedule (Friday, Saturday, Sunday); and it was popular with foreign students flying out of Boston or New York.

Greyhound is a skeleton of what it once was.

[sailor734]

I think SMT used to have a service to Bangor that connected to Greyhound way back in the day…….couldn’t make it pay.

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

Originally Posted by TitleRequired

It was awesome when it existed. Used to take smt down to Portland on the weekend schedule (Friday, Saturday, Sunday); and it was popular with foreign students flying out of Boston or New York.

Greyhound is a skeleton of what it once was.

Is it all Concord Coach Lines now? I just checked Greyhound for a random date to Boston from Augusta, and it showed up as service from Concord Coachlines. I was quite impressed with the Greyhound to Boston I took in 2020, it was seriously spacious and not at all like what i figured it would be, shame if that’s no longer offered. I’ve taken the train from Brunswick the last two times, no complaints other than the 4.5 hour drive.

It’s really too bad we can’t just hop on a bus to Boston from Saint John.

A big green bus from TD Station to TD Garden… come on Frank McKenna, get on it!

[sailor734]

Air Canada pilots vote 98% in favour of strike action. September 17 is earliest date due to cooling off period but most industry commentators seem hopeful things will get settled.

Still, something to keep an eye on.

https://globalnews.ca/news/10709086/...t-strike-vote/

[Pugsley]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

In a few years, the Downeaster may terminate in Bangor. They are exploring extending the route. That's only a 2.5 drive from SJ. This could be even more attractive.

How fast do you drive? I live in Saint Andrews and that's how long it takes to get to Bangor from where we are.

[Nashe]

Originally Posted by Pugsley

How fast do you drive? I live in Saint Andrews and that's how long it takes to get to Bangor from where we are.

Err... the 9 only takes 90 minutes... ?

[sailor734]

Depending on the day (Airline traffic, time at customs, whether or not you take a bathroom break/grab a coffee in Calais etc) I usually hit the 3 hour mark anywhere between the big Irving on Rt1 in East Holden to Dysarts on 95 just south of Bangor. That's from my driveway in Millidgeville. I'd agree 2.5 hours from SJ would be really pushing it.

FWIW I drive 125-130 on Rt 1 and 95-120 on most of the Airline depending on the section. It's getting from the house to the other side of the Harbour bridge, from US customs to 9 and from the turn onto Rt 46 to 395 that drops your average speed for the trip.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by Nashe

Err... the 9 only takes 90 minutes... ?

My personal metric is:

Moncton/SJ - 90 minutes
SJ/St Stephen - 60 minutes (admittedly 75 minutes might be more accurate)
Calais/Bangor - 90 minutes

So, 4 hrs - 4 hrs 15 minutes.

Having grown up in PEI, and then lived in Halifax, I marvelled at how close to Bangor that Moncton was when I first moved here. It was equivalent to the trip time from Halifax to Charlottetown (in the before times, prior to the Confederation Bridge). Travelling to Maine from Halifax was an exotic trip, rarely done. In Moncton, you could make it down to Bangor after work on a Friday evening in the summertime and still get there just before dusk. We would drive down there for the weekend 3-4x per year. You'd drive down Friday evening, shop all day Saturday, do some sightseeing on Sunday and then drive back sometime in the late afternoon. Not rushed at all!

Nowadays, my kids are grown. Shopping in Bangor has collapsed (actually better in Moncton now). The exchange rate is horrendous, and the border has thickened to the consistency of molasses. I haven't been to Bangor in over 7-8 years.

[Bishop2047]

https://yfcfredericton.ca/Latest-New...eid=4cfae9cf5d

Traffic is up 23 percent in Fredericton. I believe this would put the airport well over the previous record year in 2019.