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Originally Posted by LeftCoaster
Huge news. Congrats to YYC.
Very interested to see how this one performs. Even huge markets like LAX and SFO can't make Brazil work well, so WS definitely has their work cut out for them here, but maybe they have the secret sauce to get it going.
I see it starts at the end of Nov, any word on how long it goes for? Assuming it is winter seasonal since the 789s are all very much spoken for in the summer.
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Secret sauce?
I think a bunch of WS route planners went into a room at headquarters and said "our 100th out of YYC needs to be somewhere 🞵🞵🞵🞵 and exciting, any ideas?".
One guy said "how about a 5,700nm trek to Brazil"?
This being said, If I was a Calgarian, this is awesome news.
As for WS, I admire their boldness, but I am skeptical this route will work, at the present time. The flight doesn't connect well with NRT, and unlike YYC-Asia or YYC-Europe, YYC's location for South America runs isn't ideal for most US originating passengers.
I think LIM or BOG would have been better options. They are closer to YYC, and don't involve a backtrack if your end destination is northern or western South America. Heck even SCL is a shorter flight than to GRU.
As for yield, we already know Canada-Asia commands much higher fares than Canada-Brazil at the moment. And if WS can launch a 5,700nm route from YYC to GRU, then they should be able to launch a ~5300nm route (with the Russia detour) to PVG. Yes, going down to GRU has no headwinds, whereas going to PVG does, so maybe that's the reason why they chose Brazil instead of China.
Either way, there are limits to what WS can launch out of YYC, and I think they will test those limits come next November. Wish them the best of luck though.
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