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Originally Posted by IRT_BMT_IND
YHM is just too far from most of the GTA and is just too hard to get to. Being on the wrong side of the 403 chokepoint through Hamilton mountain is really the Achilles heel. From parts of Peel and York region if traffic is bad it can be 2 hours to YHM by car if one doesn't shell out for the 407. Maybe if Canada ever gets Ryanair style LCCs they will use Hamilton much like Ryanair uses "Frankfurt"/Hahn airport (and they could sell tickets on chartered coaches to downtown Toronto that cost as much as the flight).
YHM is also competing with Buffalo airport for traffic originating in the Hamilton/Niagara/Haldimand area.
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This isn't a big issue for the local market, its actually large. Hamilton is 600,000 people, Brantford is 110,000, Niagara region 460,000. You have a region of 1.1 Million without the GTA. For these people Hamilton should make more sense than YYZ. The issue is its just to close to Toronto for airlines to send real resources or invest. There is a reason Porter has never mentioned Hamilton as a potential. They could have a plane there for Ottawa or they can add another daily into Toronto where they would make more money.
They should be throwing incentives at WestJet if they want to have a new Airline and add routes to Winnipeg, Halifax, Montreal (when new terminal opens), Edmonton and St Johns. Realistically WestJet won't do it without big incentives either now days.