Hamilton International Airport

[LikeHamilton]

Originally Posted by Rg2016

Isnt it that a plane bridge dock requires a two story structure?

Or this one has a flight of strairs going up the bridge?

They use a 12 degree ramp. There are lots of airports that use bridges that don't use a 2nd floor.

[JakeLRS]

That render is probably the most realistic way YHM expands on the cheaper side of things.

We'll see if it pans out.

With 9 used bridges purchases, the render shows us getting at least 6 of them. Unfortunately, Canada/US relationships, alongside our weak dollar will make transborder ops a bit of a harder start for Porter.

But it looks like their domestic offering is being perceived well enough for them to expand it to year round.

[HamAviMech]

Originally Posted by JakeLRS

That render is probably the most realistic way YHM expands on the cheaper side of things.

We'll see if it pans out.

With 9 used bridges purchases, the render shows us getting at least 6 of them. Unfortunately, Canada/US relationships, alongside our weak dollar will make transborder ops a bit of a harder start for Porter.

But it looks like their domestic offering is being perceived well enough for them to expand it to year round.

What I heard is the bridges are new and coming from Italy or Spain. It's the "knuckle" or "connectors" for the bridges that are refurbished from JFK. They bought 8 total. 2 bridges being put up this year and 1 of those bridges will be replaced next year. But 6 bridges total next year and the rest will be added when the demand is there.

[Innsertnamehere]

Originally Posted by LikeHamilton

I have been at the airport recently and construction has been going gang busters. There is hardly any place, wall, floor, ceiling that has not been taken apart. All of the check-in counters have been removed. All of the walls have been primed and at least half of the open ceilings have been repainted. Even the front has had all of the old canopy removed and the new steel work for the new canopy installed and the old concrete removed.

In the boarding lounge, the arrivals hallway has been removed, making the place look larger. Detour YHM Café and Bar is being renovated will be rebranded. All of the gate area has been demolished and a new glass wall similar to what is at Billy Bishop Airport is being installed.

Considering that it was only announced on February 4 and has to be finished by May 31st, they have done a lot but have a lot more to do. The grand reopening is on June 2nd with Porter starting June 3rd. This weekend is helping with no flights Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Play and Sunwing have ended and WestJet changes to a 6 am departure and a 12:31am arrival leaving the terminal empty during the day for 18 hours.

As to bridges, that is phase 2 that will start apparently in June according to a workers on site. They have purchased 9 bridges from LaGuardia Airport terminal B (that Vantage Group manages), and they are wrapped ready to be shipped. Apparently from workers I talked to the first bridge maybe in service by the end of the summer and the 2nd one in the fall. The rest of the bridges depend on how well Porter does.

I listened to a podcast on the spec.com with Scott Radley interviewing the airport’s new CEO, Peter Tong, and executive managing director, Ed Ratuski. They stated that they are here to make passenger service a priority at Hamilton International.

I am posting a new picture that has not appeared anywhere before online. This picture was laminated (hence the poor quality) and taped to the wall outside between the front doors with the other two pictures that they have published everywhere. I don’t know if it was a mistake putting it out there but here it is. It shows, I believe, the final look of the expansion. I could not get it all in, but it shows a large expansion of the airport (the white roof area) on the east side of the terminal, 9 bridges and the planes in the picture are all porter planes. The front of the airport is what phase one is to look like.

I think they really mean it this time to do a full expansion of the terminal, and that Porter is planning a large expansion of flights themself at YHM. Porter still has 38 – Embraer E195-E2’s on order.

20250422_183420 , on Flickr

Love it. I would love nothing more for Porter to have a great presence at YHM. A great airline with a wide variety of Canadian and US destinations (once the current mess dies down) would be great.

6 bridges and that expansion would put YHM at a level where it could grow to a decent mid-sized airport. Exactly what I always saw the potential of the airport as.

[BCTed]

Any idea how Porter bookings are going so far? Sounds like Vancouver has gone pretty well given that they added a second daily flight.

[LikeHamilton]

I came back from a trip through Hamilton Airport. Here are a few snaps I took.

20250522_123829 by R L, on Flickr

20250522_123832 by R L, on Flickr

20250522_124027 by R L, on Flickr

20250522_123743 by R L, on Flickr

20250522_123714 by R L, on Flickr

20250522_123556 by R L, on Flickr

The new entrance to Security Screening
20250522_123532 by R L, on Flickr

20250522_123509 by R L, on Flickr

20250522_123504 by R L, on Flickr

[YYCguys]

Thank you LikeHamilton! They are going like gangbusters to get the renovations underway/completed in a timely fashion for Porter’s big debut there! It’s looking very nice so far!

[JakeLRS]

Awesome photos.

Way better and higher quality renovation this time around!!

That security area reminds me of Pearson lol!

I had booked the inaugural YHM-YEG flight but I’m gonna have to cancel since I’m starting a new position. Will be awesome to see the terminal whenever I fly back to Hamilton.

[SteelTown]

Source: https://www.facebook.com/HamiltonInternationalAirport

And some renovation pics


Source: https://www.facebook.com/HamiltonInternationalAirport


Source: https://www.facebook.com/HamiltonInternationalAirport


Source: https://www.facebook.com/HamiltonInternationalAirport

[HamAviMech]

Originally Posted by BCTed

Any idea how Porter bookings are going so far? Sounds like Vancouver has gone pretty well given that they added a second daily flight.

Spoke to a Porter rep and they said most of the summer the flights are 85 to 95% sold out and that Hamilton will be busy this winter with sun destinations.

[cooke442]

Originally Posted by HamAviMech

Spoke to a Porter rep and they said most of the summer the flights are 85 to 95% sold out and that Hamilton will be busy this winter with sun destinations.

This is great news. We have a flight booked to Fort Lauderdale from Toronto in January. It would be nice to be able to switch it to Hamilton instead.

[HamAviMech]

Originally Posted by cooke442

This is great news. We have a flight booked to Fort Lauderdale from Toronto in January. It would be nice to be able to switch it to Hamilton instead.

I heard that Ft Lauderdale or Miami are possible destinations to connect ppl to cruises. I also heard that Nassau, Montego Bay and Cancun are potential winter destinations. They're looking at destinations that ppl wouldn't typically need to book an all-inclusive vacation package like through sunwing/westjet vacations. Also no Air Transat until winter 26/27 and no Cuban destinations this winter.

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by HamAviMech

I heard that Ft Lauderdale or Miami are possible destinations to connect ppl to cruises. I also heard that Nassau, Montego Bay and Cancun are potential winter destinations. They're looking at destinations that ppl wouldn't typically need to book an all-inclusive vacation package like through sunwing/westjet vacations. Also no Air Transat until winter 26/27 and no Cuban destinations this winter.

Is anybody still flying to Cuba?

[JakeLRS]

No Cuba Service?

I thought as part of the WS/WG deal, WS would have to maintain existing WG routes?

[Innsertnamehere]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

Is anybody still flying to Cuba?

discount all-inclusive packages, yes. Cuba is probably the most value-driven all-inclusive destination though and it's mostly serviced through sunwing and that type of package airline. Porter wouldn't be interested at all.

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

discount all-inclusive packages, yes. Cuba is probably the most value-driven all-inclusive destination though and it's mostly serviced through sunwing and that type of package airline. Porter wouldn't be interested at all.

Diplomatically phrased.

[HamAviMech]

Originally Posted by JakeLRS

No Cuba Service?

I thought as part of the WS/WG deal, WS would have to maintain existing WG routes?

Without looking into the terms with the deal, I do remember them saying that but maybe it was for "X" number of years or depending on the routes being profitable(not saying Hamilton wasn't profitable) they could cancel the route. All I was told be 2 airport sources was so far 10 daily flights this winter with no Cuban destinations and no Air Transat. That was like 3 or 4 weeks ago. Maybe we'll see more routes this year/winter but with Porters E2s delayed deliveries and the engine maintenance issues plus the airport is starting phase 2 of the terminal enhancements, I don't think we'll see too much growth beyond the 10 or 12 daily flights between Porter and Westjet by the end of the year. That's just my opinion. I also heard the airport has signed an agreement with Emirates to be the alternate for Pearson instead of JFK/YUL and 1 of the new jet bridges will be able to accommodate the a380 and the a350 for Cathay Pacific which they signed an agreement with last year. So keep an eye out for those planes during bad weather at Pearson. Cathay was already here for a diversion. These terminal improvements have certainly drawn attention, so hopefully we'll see other airlines flying out of YHM in the future.

[JakeLRS]

Originally Posted by HamAviMech

Without looking into the terms with the deal, I do remember them saying that but maybe it was for "X" number of years or depending on the routes being profitable(not saying Hamilton wasn't profitable) they could cancel the route. All I was told be 2 airport sources was so far 10 daily flights this winter with no Cuban destinations and no Air Transat. That was like 3 or 4 weeks ago. Maybe we'll see more routes this year/winter but with Porters E2s delayed deliveries and the engine maintenance issues plus the airport is starting phase 2 of the terminal enhancements, I don't think we'll see too much growth beyond the 10 or 12 daily flights between Porter and Westjet by the end of the year. That's just my opinion. I also heard the airport has signed an agreement with Emirates to be the alternate for Pearson instead of JFK/YUL and 1 of the new jet bridges will be able to accommodate the a380 and the a350 for Cathay Pacific which they signed an agreement with last year. So keep an eye out for those planes during bad weather at Pearson. Cathay was already here for a diversion. These terminal improvements have certainly drawn attention, so hopefully we'll see other airlines flying out of YHM in the future.

10 daily in the winter seems very bold.

We’ll have the 4 porter core routes, westjet with YYC a few days a week and the weekend Mexico flights (if Westjet doesn’t axe sunwing from us).

Now, if we’re including those AC busses into the daily count, we’re already there lol

But I do anticipate some sort of Porter announcement, their aircraft utilization is so poor they have tons of leeway.

[King&James]

When might Porter announce any Winter schedule?

[Innsertnamehere]

Originally Posted by HamAviMech

Without looking into the terms with the deal, I do remember them saying that but maybe it was for "X" number of years or depending on the routes being profitable(not saying Hamilton wasn't profitable) they could cancel the route. All I was told be 2 airport sources was so far 10 daily flights this winter with no Cuban destinations and no Air Transat. That was like 3 or 4 weeks ago. Maybe we'll see more routes this year/winter but with Porters E2s delayed deliveries and the engine maintenance issues plus the airport is starting phase 2 of the terminal enhancements, I don't think we'll see too much growth beyond the 10 or 12 daily flights between Porter and Westjet by the end of the year. That's just my opinion. I also heard the airport has signed an agreement with Emirates to be the alternate for Pearson instead of JFK/YUL and 1 of the new jet bridges will be able to accommodate the a380 and the a350 for Cathay Pacific which they signed an agreement with last year. So keep an eye out for those planes during bad weather at Pearson. Cathay was already here for a diversion. These terminal improvements have certainly drawn attention, so hopefully we'll see other airlines flying out of YHM in the future.

One full A-380 landing here on diversion would by equal to about 0.2% of YHMs annual traffic in 2024.. lol.