Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport (YOW/CYOW)

[fanofYOW]

^ I'm sure it's still too early to tell. I can't see PHX or any Florida going anywhere since anecdotally I've been doing dummy bookings on random days over the last little while to check seat availability and they all seem to be doing fine.

[solo748]

Originally Posted by RomanR27

2x daily YHM flights are loaded, on the DH4 as expected.

PD2445 YOW 0835 0943 YHM
PD2447 YOW 1400 1508 YHM

PD2446 YHM 1025 1129 YOW
PD2448 YHM 1835 1939 YOW

With that, on Fridays in the summer we are now at 99 departures.

16x YYZ (10x AC, 4x PD and 2x WS)
11x YTZ (6x AC, 5x PD)
9x YUL (8x AC, 1x TS)
8x YYC (3x WS, 2x PD, 1x AC)

YYC doesnt add up. Cannot believe the freq on that route

[solo748]

Originally Posted by fanofYOW

^ Not too sure why people from YOW would even consider AC over PD if the destination is in PD's network. Not a lot of people think of the fact that if Porter goes down due to lack of support, Ottawa residence are going to spend the rest of their lives connecting in YYZ or YUL instead of having the convenience of direct.

If YOW-LGW goes well for TS and they pump YOW with more European destinations with PD's feed, you could start seeing people in YUL drive to YOW on random days when prices are better from YOW, which may offset the ones from YOW driving to YUL a bit.

Agreed. If you find yourself connecting in YYZ/YUL to a destination served nonstop from YOW, you really cant complain when it all fades away

[solo748]

Originally Posted by RomanR27

Thanks for sharing - "it's gonna be significantly expanded".

In that vein, looking at what's already loaded.

- CUN is 4x weekly from the start of the winter schedule, up to daily as of 16DEC
- LIR is 4x weekly, starts 18DEC
- PVR has a Saturday flight from the start of the winter schedule, seems to be 2-3x weekly the rest of winter
- No GCM or NAS
- FLL and MCO are only daily, rather than 2x daily we've seen
- No TPA, RSW, MIA or PHX

So maybe the sun capacity increase will come largely at the expense of existing TB routes. From what's loaded though, only CUN is increased (and modestly at 6x -> 7x weekly), everything else is a reduction. I had seen on another forum rumours of SXM and MEX a while back...

On a separate note, noticed that AF has sprinkled in some 77W in July/August. Only two more LHR flights on the 788 before going up to 4x weekly on the 333 starting Monday. Sunday's AC889 was full in PY and 18/20 J. AC888 was full in both premium cabins. I didn't get AC889 today, but AC888 is 17/19 J and 18/21 PY.

PD is late to market getting this out. Should be 10 months lead time minimum. You'd think any sun destination that blew their socks off the last 4 months would be loaded thru xmas

I'd be thrilled to see PHX, MIA, AUA, SXM announced mid-Dec through Easter, timed to connect YHZ/Atlantic connections on both ends. Rather than the usual PUJ or chasing the last of the CUN yield

[RomanR27]

Originally Posted by solo748

YYC doesnt add up. Cannot believe the freq on that route

AC is running the 321 too which has almost 200 seats. Last summer I believe was mainly 320s and 223s. Insanity indeed.

[Dominion301]

Originally Posted by RomanR27

Thanks for sharing - "it's gonna be significantly expanded".

In that vein, looking at what's already loaded.

- CUN is 4x weekly from the start of the winter schedule, up to daily as of 16DEC
- LIR is 4x weekly, starts 18DEC
- PVR has a Saturday flight from the start of the winter schedule, seems to be 2-3x weekly the rest of winter
- No GCM or NAS
- FLL and MCO are only daily, rather than 2x daily we've seen
- No TPA, RSW, MIA or PHX

So maybe the sun capacity increase will come largely at the expense of existing TB routes. From what's loaded though, only CUN is increased (and modestly at 6x -> 7x weekly), everything else is a reduction. I had seen on another forum rumours of SXM and MEX a while back...

On a separate note, noticed that AF has sprinkled in some 77W in July/August. Only two more LHR flights on the 788 before going up to 4x weekly on the 333 starting Monday. Sunday's AC889 was full in PY and 18/20 J. AC888 was full in both premium cabins. I didn't get AC889 today, but AC888 is 17/19 J and 18/21 PY.

PVR getting a capacity cut makes sense. I can’t imagine RSW or TPA go away now that they have a monopoly on both but I bet they’ll only share a daily with a 3x/4x weekly split. As for MIA, I imagine if anything it’ll get a capacity increase and a full winter season. PHX will be the big question mark.

NAS might not survive but hopefully AC remains. I can’t see GCM getting cut but maybe a frequency reduction.

As for new routes, PUJ seems like a no brainer. POP only has a weekly TS whereas 20 years ago POP had 3 or 4 weeks. Samana maybe? YOW had that about a decade ago. SXM would be nice and hasn’t been flown in a decade. I’d love to see a Saturday service to BDA..that’s part of the UK bilateral like GCM. PLS is a market AC used to serve. MZT and SJO were served by WG pre-pandemic. BGI is a place nobody has ever attempted from YOW to my recollection. CZM was offered eons ago by Sunquest. I don’t think CTG, an old Go Travel/Zoom route is probably out of E95 range.

Originally Posted by solo748

YYC doesnt add up. Cannot believe the freq on that route

WS is 5x to YYC on Fridays.

Originally Posted by RomanR27

AC is running the 321 too which has almost 200 seats. Last summer I believe was mainly 320s and 223s. Insanity indeed.

Wasn’t August on the MAX? Pre-pandemic AC would operate 2x 319 to YYC and prior to that 3x E90.

[RomanR27]

Originally Posted by Dominion301

PVR getting a capacity cut makes sense. I can’t imagine RSW or TPA go away now that they have a monopoly on both but I bet they’ll only share a daily with a 3x/4x weekly split. As for MIA, I imagine if anything it’ll get a capacity increase and a full winter season. PHX will be the big question mark.

Just seems strange they're not loaded in even on a dummy schedule with this current winter's timings.

NAS might not survive but hopefully AC remains. I can’t see GCM getting cut but maybe a frequency reduction.

Another factor might be how deeply they'll integrate with TS vacations. CUN, PVR and LIR are all served by TS, but NAS and GCM aren't.

As for new routes, PUJ seems like a no brainer. POP only has a weekly TS whereas 20 years ago POP had 3 or 4 weeks. Samana maybe? YOW had that about a decade ago. SXM would be nice and hasn’t been flown in a decade. I’d love to see a Saturday service to BDA..that’s part of the UK bilateral like GCM. PLS is a market AC used to serve. MZT and SJO were served by WG pre-pandemic. BGI is a place nobody has ever attempted from YOW to my recollection. CZM was offered eons ago by Sunquest. I don’t think CTG, an old Go Travel/Zoom route is probably out of E95 range.

Do they have approval to fly in the DR? I agree on POP and AZS though. I believe they got approval to fly to Jamaica this past winter so I'd expect we'd see MBJ as well. Another dark horse could be RTB / Roatan. I believe AC has seeked approval to launch it for next winter, and there's some ecotourism there. LIR punched above it's weight class this winter and Costa Rica is also an ecotourism hotspot (ditto Samana, actually).

And the avgeek in me might just have to take the inaugural SXM if that happened. I didn't know YOW ever had service.

Wasn’t August on the MAX? Pre-pandemic AC would operate 2x 319 to YYC and prior to that 3x E90.

Definitely was in August 2024 - I flew on 31JUL and remember it was the last day of 319 ops. Just checked and last summer was 320 until September when it switched to the 223. In any case, this is the most capacity they've had on YYC since PD entered the fold. Heck, even summer 2022 it was twice daily on a 223.

[MountainView]

Originally Posted by Dominion301

Back in the CanJet 737 days of YHM-YOW there was significantly more than 70 O&D pax per direction per day...I’m speaking from loads of personal experience on this. However, the 737 was too much airplane for over half the week. Friday & Sunday night it was almost always sold out but loads on a Tuesday morning were often under 40%. Twice daily DH4 with a plethora of YOW connections will be a perfect amount of capacity. Keep in mind YOW-YTO capacity is still over 1/3 lower than in 2019, so there’s definitely room for more capacity to/from the Golden Horseshoe.

Thank you for your insight on this. Much appreciated.

[Dominion301]

Originally Posted by MountainView

Thank you for your insight on this. Much appreciated.

Today’s departure count: 88

Sun flights count (both transborder & international): 12

Today's cancellation count (so far): 4 - including WS/WG to CUN

[Zmonkey]

Originally Posted by solo748

YYC doesnt add up. Cannot believe the freq on that route

WestJet knows how to connect in that city. They fill those planes.

[RomanR27]

Originally Posted by Dominion301

Today’s departure count: 88

Sun flights count (both transborder & international): 12

Today's cancellation count (so far): 4 - including WS/WG to CUN

A couple diversions away from YOW this morning due to some fog.

The final AC889 on a 788 is full in all three cabins tomorrow. AC888 is full in PY and 16/20 J. The 333 that starts Monday has 24 PY seats and 32 J seats, which +3 and +2 compared to the 789 that operated last summer (and +3 and +12 compared to the 788).

[MountainView]

Originally Posted by RomanR27

A couple diversions away from YOW this morning due to some fog.

The final AC889 on a 788 is full in all three cabins tomorrow. AC888 is full in PY and 16/20 J. The 333 that starts Monday has 24 PY seats and 32 J seats, which +3 and +2 compared to the 789 that operated last summer (and +3 and +12 compared to the 788).

Will be nice to see AC's A333's. I've always loved the look of the A330 and hope the Star Alliance livery will make a visit here.

A333: 32J-24PY-241Y (297)
B788: 20J-21PY-214Y (255)
B789: 30J-21PY-247Y (298)

[RomanR27]

5/18 of the 333s are in the *A livery now so good chance we'll see it pretty frequently!

The last time we had AC 333 service that I can recall was in 2016 when YOW-FRA ran on it for a month. I remember zipping over one day at lunch to catch the (at the time) lone *A livery arriving.

A sign that sun season is winding down, I see a Swoop 7M8 is doing a ferry flight to PVR for the final northbound of the season. I can also see an AC 7M8 (would have been operating NAS) and a WS 7M8 (would be off to SNU had Cuba travel not been shot down) parked at the remote stands as well.

[Rhb]

Travelweek has an item on PD getting CTA approval for D.R., Aruba and Barbados.

https://www.travelweek.ca/news/airlines/porter-gets-cta-approval-for-d-r-aruba-and-barbados/

[kevinbottawa]

Originally Posted by Rhb

Travelweek has an item on PD getting CTA approval for D.R., Aruba and Barbados.

https://www.travelweek.ca/news/airlines/porter-gets-cta-approval-for-d-r-aruba-and-barbados/

I've been waiting for this. My family and I are from Barbados. It would be nice to have another option for flights.

[Dominion301]

Today’s departure count: 90 - including a WS charter (or ferry) to YYT.

Sun flights count (both transborder & international): 13

Today's cancellation count (so far): 4

[Richard Eade]

We flew to Barbados for the first time a year ago and thoroughly enjoyed the island. It is a mystery to me why it isn’t promoted more as a destination from Canada.

[Dominion301]

Originally Posted by RomanR27

5/18 of the 333s are in the *A livery now so good chance we'll see it pretty frequently!

The last time we had AC 333 service that I can recall was in 2016 when YOW-FRA ran on it for a month. I remember zipping over one day at lunch to catch the (at the time) lone *A livery arriving.

A sign that sun season is winding down, I see a Swoop 7M8 is doing a ferry flight to PVR for the final northbound of the season. I can also see an AC 7M8 (would have been operating NAS) and a WS 7M8 (would be off to SNU had Cuba travel not been shot down) parked at the remote stands as well.

LHR was going to be upgauged to the 333 for summer 2020, but...

There was a summer in the 2010s when LHR was on a 333 but I can't remember which one.

Today’s departure count: 79

Sun flights count (both transborder & international): 16

Today's cancellation count (so far): 0

[fanofYOW]

Originally Posted by Dominion301

LHR was going to be upgauged to the 333 for summer 2020, but...

Wasn't it the 788? Or am I mistaken?

[solo748]

Originally Posted by Rhb

Travelweek has an item on PD getting CTA approval for D.R., Aruba and Barbados.

https://www.travelweek.ca/news/airlines/porter-gets-cta-approval-for-d-r-aruba-and-barbados/

How cool is that
Market AUA and Barbados as direct, same-plane service from YHZ and let's roll. Off the blocks in YHZ 6am, back to YHZ around midnight, in addiition to AUA, you'll capture some good local business passengers on a 6am YHZYOW, the late YOWYHZ can funnel all sun/USA pax back to Halifax. On top of it all Saves 90mins of flying time and chaotic customs experience for Atlantic canada market vs YYZ cnx

The unrest in mexico and the cuba issues, this could be a smash. Get it to market ASAP to get people locked in.