YVR & Sea Island Developments Discussion II

[ilikeredheads]

Originally Posted by zahav

T
I have what is likely a stupid question, but I can't find the definitive answer online. When airlines have different seating configurations under the same aircraft code, is there any way to tell which plane is being used?

go try and book a ticket on the airlines website, and when you pick a seat, you can compare seating layout with the maps on areolopa.com

[nname]

Originally Posted by ilikeredheads

go try and book a ticket on the airlines website, and when you pick a seat, you can compare seating layout with the maps on areolopa.com

Too hard to get to the seat map on Air NZ, you have to enter your personal info first.

But based on the info when selecting Business class, it would be the ones preferred seating (ie. the premium-heavy ex-CX aircraft with first-class seats).

=============================

Looks like once again AC extends the YVR-DUB season, which will now run until the end of S25 season in late October. So this year the seasonal route will run for about 6 months. Even though the capacity is lower during peak months, but a big increase in the yearly capacity due to season extension both ways.

[Calfan12]

JETBLUE NS25 BOSTON – VANCOUVER AIRCRAFT CHANGES

JetBlue Airways in Northern summer 2025 season schedules aircraft changes on Boston – Vancouver route. The seasonal service in 2025, scheduled from 12JUN25 to 02SEP25, is scheduled with Airbus A220-300, instead of A320.

B6049 BOS1630 – 1935YVR 223 D
B6050 YVR240 – 0500+1BOS 223 D

https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/250107-b6ns25bosyvr

[xd_1771]

Vietnam Airlines just confirmed Vancouver as a prospective destination of theirs from Ho Chi Minh City

https://simpleflying.com/vietnam-airlines-3-us-canadian-airports-plans-to-serve/

[hehehe]

Sorry if this is an irrelevant question but I'm doing a domestic-->international connection at YVR on Sunday night. Are there any food outlets (post security in the int'l terminal) that anyone recommends? I have about 3 hours to kill lol

[madog222]

AC is starting A220 service out of YVR this spring. Starting with LAX for a month in April then moving to twice daily DEN service from 1 May.

https://simpleflying.com/air-canada-expands-airbus-a220-us-network-12-routes/

Originally Posted by hehehe

Sorry if this is an irrelevant question but I'm doing a domestic-->international connection at YVR on Sunday night. Are there any food outlets (post security in the int'l terminal) that anyone recommends? I have about 3 hours to kill lol

I’ve had a good experience from illycafe recently, it’s past the main food court area. The sit down restaurant Lift is good but pricey.

[VancityAvgeek33]

Originally Posted by hehehe

Sorry if this is an irrelevant question but I'm doing a domestic-->international connection at YVR on Sunday night. Are there any food outlets (post security in the int'l terminal) that anyone recommends? I have about 3 hours to kill lol

Purebred is very good!

[ninjakafi_81]

Originally Posted by xd_1771

Vietnam Airlines just confirmed Vancouver as a prospective destination of theirs from Ho Chi Minh City

https://simpleflying.com/vietnam-airlines-3-us-canadian-airports-plans-to-serve/

I think this will still be years away from now as VN doesn't have a widebody order that would allow for a North America expansion.

In the recent Investor Day presentation from AC, they have mentioned SGN as a potential new destination. I lowkey hope VN beats AC on starting the route as I would love to see a new foreign tail at YVR.

[hehehe]

Originally Posted by madog222

AC is starting A220 service out of YVR this spring. Starting with LAX for a month in April then moving to twice daily DEN service from 1 May.

https://simpleflying.com/air-canada-expands-airbus-a220-us-network-12-routes/



I’ve had a good experience from illycafe recently, it’s past the main food court area. The sit down restaurant Lift is good but pricey.

Originally Posted by VancityAvgeek33

Purebred is very good!

Thanks for the suggestions guys, much appreciated

[Johnny Aussie]

deleted - error

[LeftCoaster]

Originally Posted by ninjakafi_81

I think this will still be years away from now as VN doesn't have a widebody order that would allow for a North America expansion.

In the recent Investor Day presentation from AC, they have mentioned SGN as a potential new destination. I lowkey hope VN beats AC on starting the route as I would love to see a new foreign tail at YVR.

Apparently VN has a few A359s collecting dust, so they may have a bit of lift available. YVR seems like a great add considering the huge Vietnamese population here and adjacent in the prairies.

I seem to remember a rumour a few years back about a colourful airline coming to YVR, I wonder....

[Johnny Aussie]

Would be nice to see Vietnam at YVR. Just a matter of time

Meanwhile HongKong Airlines starts up again the end of next week - HX will be YVR’s 26th non-US foreign passenger carrier (32nd including the 6 US carriers)
Also AC to PEK resumes next week too

Now we wait to see what more AC announces for the new 220 and rouge base at YVR

2025 certainly looking good so far

[zahav]

Does anyone know why Air Canada Express is putting some flights on B23-25? These are the regional ground loading gates that were built for WS Encore and is primarily still used by them. But I've noticed Air Canada has a few flights each day there too, not sure how long this has been going on, but I've noticed for about 2 weeks so far. Is there construction on C-pier right now or something? It doesn't make sense for them to put any flight on B-gates, C-pier has more than enough capacity. So why put any flight on a far-flung gate shared with WS like B25? The C-pier regional jetty was fully renovated not that long ago, and AC has been putting a lot of DH4s on jet bridges, so there's more than enough room in C gates, regional and jet bridges. Anyone who has inside information, please share . I have mentioned either in this thread or the Canada Airports thread, that WS Encore should be on the A-gates, not at the end of B pier. And AC should only be on the C-gates, so bizarre they have anything on B whatsoever....

On another topic, YVR will have lots of foreign tail 777s this summer, more than usual. Here's the list along with comments where there was something to add:

-Air China - 4x weekly 777-300 to PEK. They have operated 777s over the years, but they had been moreso using the A330 pre-Covid. Nice to see them using the 777 exclusively now, even if it is only 4x weekly
-China Airlines - Daily 777-300 to TPE. This is a nice gain, as CI had been using A340s for years, and then the A350, so this is an upgauge
-EVA - Daily 777 -300 to TPE
-Philippine - Daily 777-300 to MNL. Hopefully this stays even with AC competing on the route
-Air New Zealand - 777-300 operated 3x per week, with 787 the other 4 days. It's been a while since we got anything other than the 787 from them
-Air India - Daily 777-300 to DEL. This is another route that was 787 only and transitioned to 777 after initial launch
-Turkish Airlines - 3x weekly 777-300 to IST. Similar to AI, this was an A350 and/or 787 route in the beginning, but looks to be 777 only now. A small consolation for the strangled frequency allowance, but still positive.
-KLM - Daily 777-300 to AMS. This is an upgauge compared to KLM offerings over the last decade +. We've had the 777-200, the 787, the A330 (both variants I think). And it is currently the largest capacity plane in their fleet by a pretty wide margin (according to Wiki, they have orders for A350-1000 and this will be slightly more than the 777-300, but it's not in service yet)
-British Airways - 3x daily between LHR and LGW. It is the 777-200, and replaces the A350-1000 most recently, but the route was a regular 747-400 route, and A380 at various points too. It's a lot of BA 777 action in one day from a foreign carrier

Some of these changes may be insignificant in total pax numbers, but it’s a positive sign when international airlines up-gauge at all. It means that when airlines make decisions on where to put aircraft, we are being seen and often boosted. Everyone talked the 787 up as being the game changer for YVR. And it has been for airlines like AC and others, absolutely! Ie. QF and the Japanese carriers and more. But international service at YVR has benefited from up gauges to higher capacity 777 in many cases, often replacing initially operated 787s.

Incidentally while collecting date for this post, I noticed how the A350 has seemingly surged ahead in popularity and isn’t that far behind the 787 (again, not including Air Canada, just foreign tails). See comparison below:

A350
-Air France (daily CDG)
-Cathay Pacific (17x weekly HKG)
-Edelweiss (daily ZRH)
-Lufthansa (daily MUC)
-Sichuan (2x weekly to TFU)
Total: 40 flights, 5 carriers

B787
-Air New Zealand (4x weekly AKL, with 777 the other 3 days)
-ANA (daily HND)
-Hainan (1X weekly SZX)
-JAL (daily NRT)
-Korean Air (11x weekly)
-Qantas (3x weekly SYD)
-Zipair (5x weekly NRT)
Total: 49 flights, 7 carriers

B777
-Air China (4x weekly 777-300 PEK)
-China Airlines (daily 777-300 TPE
-EVA (daily 777 -300 TPE)
-Philippine Airlines (daily 777-300 MNL)
-Air New Zealand (777-300 3x weekly AKL)
-Air India (daily 777-300 DEL)
-Turkish Airlines (3x weekly IST)
-KLM (daily AMS)
-British Airways (3x daily LHR/LGW)
Total: 66 flights, 9 carriers

So for foreign tails, the 777 is more prominent this summer season than the Dreamliner in both metrics. The A350 was never talked about as a game changer for YVR to the same degree as the 787, but it is definitely in the same league more than I would’ve guessed before crunching the numbers. After these 3 aircraft, it drops off fast:

A330
-Condor (daily to FRA)
-Fiji Airways (3x weekly in peak, 2x weekly otherwise). This is a recent change, FJ had switched to the A350 shortly after launching and been so ever since. Oddly, it is only for June, July, August; A350 till end of May, and restarting again in September. But since I am only reporting summer schedules, I will only reflect the A330. If it were A350, it would tighten the race even more with the 787
-Hong Kong Airlines (2x weekly HKG)

The only foreign heavy not using one of those four is Lufthansa’s daily 744 to FRA. Icelandair and Aeromexico use narrowbodies and are in a different category than the true international routes.

[madog222]

Don't forget KLM's daily 777 to AMS.

[zahav]

Originally Posted by ninjakafi_81

I think this will still be years away from now as VN doesn't have a widebody order that would allow for a North America expansion.

In the recent Investor Day presentation from AC, they have mentioned SGN as a potential new destination. I lowkey hope VN beats AC on starting the route as I would love to see a new foreign tail at YVR.

100% I would prefer VN over AC, from an airport geek POV, it's a no brainer. I am always nervous AC will bully a foreign tail away by competing on a route too hard. So far this is unwarranted fear and not based on reality, thankfully! Not including China because it's still wont post-covid, the rest of our foreign carriers seem to be stronger than AC on routes they both operate. The first exception I can think of is QF to Sydney, where AC provides more than QF. But we have/will have more foreign airline service to Tokyo, Seoul, Hong Kong, Manila, Auckland, Mexico City, London, and Frankfurt. Each of these destinations is served by one or more foreign carriers with higher capacity than AC overall. And then of course the countless destinations either dropped by AC or never operated at all, but a foreign tale does operate (I count 9 such destinations: Reykjavik, Amsterdam, Munich, Zurich, Paris, Istanbul, Delhi, Taipei, and Nandi). Of course the flip side are the routes AC operates that a foreign carrier doesn't (I count 5: Dubai, Dublin, Bangkok, Singapore, and Brisbane). For pure airport geekiness, I would take having Emirates, Aer Lingus., Thai Airways, Singapore Airlines, and Qantas on these routes above AC or any other domestic carrier. But by and large, foreign carriers seem to be bigger than AC on shared routes.

Don't get me wrong, I love AC's expansion plans and commitment, and do not want them to suffer, quite the opposite, I know the value added by them strengthening their presence here, and want it to continue. But I love foreign tails (yikes, that kind of sounded dirty lol, definitely not intended!), and keeping and gaining those is more exciting

[zahav]

Originally Posted by madog222

Don't forget KLM's daily 777 to AMS.

Omg yes how could I forget them! I added it in now and reticulated. And KL to AMS is another route that gained, so even worse that I forgot them!

[Johnny Aussie]

^ when you lay it out like that the foreign carrier tally seems even more impressive

BA at 3 daily is by far exceeding their pre Covid capacity and compared to just a single daily A380. Shows just how huge the London market continues to be.

This could be LH’s last summer using the 744 - they may be able to squeeze out another year or two at the most - delayed to its replacement

[Zmonkey]

Originally Posted by Johnny Aussie

^ when you lay it out like that the foreign carrier tally seems even more impressive

BA at 3 daily is by far exceeding their pre Covid capacity and compared to just a single daily A380. Shows just how huge the London market continues to be.

This could be LH’s last summer using the 744 - they may be able to squeeze out another year or two at the most - delayed to its replacement

WestJet pulled out of the route and didn't AC reduce frequencies or seats?

BA is also connecting a big chunk of people with India being a major destination.

Has YVR - London Market gained seats since covid with the other changes?

[hehehe]

Originally Posted by Johnny Aussie

Would be nice to see Vietnam at YVR. Just a matter of time

Meanwhile HongKong Airlines starts up again the end of next week - HX will be YVR’s 26th non-US foreign passenger carrier (32nd including the 6 US carriers)
Also AC to PEK resumes next week too

Now we wait to see what more AC announces for the new 220 and rouge base at YVR

2025 certainly looking good so far

I wonder if AC had more lift maybe they could beat Vietnam and launch YVR-SGN?

[nname]

Originally Posted by hehehe

I wonder if AC had more lift maybe they could beat Vietnam and launch YVR-SGN?

I don't think they can add any more route before Oct 2025. If they are resuming TLV this year, I don't even think they have enough fleet to run the current schedule unless they send both 767 on TATL runs.

This summer YVR will require 1 additional 787 to run daily PEK. MNL do not require additional plane due to reduction in HKG and BNE, and PVG increase come at the expense of KIX and DUB.

In the east, they need 1 additional 787 for PRG and NAP, as well as maintaining the increase for ATH, KIX, ICN that was added last year due to TLV not operating.

All these need to come out of the one additional 787 (plus two 767) they're receiving this year