Atlantic Canada airport thread

[sailor734]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

3x weekly at present.

"Cheap flights to Toronto that can align with other flights in YYZ would be great."

Far as I know Flair sells each leg as a separate ticket so any connections are self connecting at your own risk.

From the Flair website.........

Connections Between Multiple Flair Flights
Flair does not sell connecting flights, even within our network, and all legs are considered point-to-point. Flair is not liable for reaccommodating, providing refunds, or redirecting baggage to their final destination if a passenger intends to connect between two or more Flair flights on separate bookings and misses their new flight.

These itineraries are called "self-connecting", and you are still required to check-in and present yourself at the gate or pre-security counter by the same cut-off times as if you were beginning a new trip.

Please note that some third-party booking websites or travel agencies may sell you an itinerary claiming to connect you within Flair's network. These are still considered self-connections. We recommend booking directly on flyflair.com to avoid any confusion.


Connections to/from Flair and Another Airline
Flair does not directly support connecting flights between our flights and other airlines. Flair is not liable for reaccommodating, providing refunds, or redirecting baggage to their final destination if a passenger intends to connect between Flair and another airline and misses their flight.

Please note that some third-party booking websites or travel agencies may sell you an itinerary between Flair and another airline with "missed connection and/or baggage guarantees". These protections are not provided by Flair. Please contact your booking provider if you have questions about these products.

[BlackYear]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Moncton airport welcomes new service to Toronto, Montreal
Flair Airlines will begin new Moncton-Toronto service May 15
Author of the article:Alan Cochrane
Published May 06, 2026 • Last updated 21 hours ago • 2 minute read
https://tj.news/moncton-miramichi/moncton-airport-welcomes-new-service-to-toronto-montreal {paywall}

Me and 4 others already booked Flair for Aug 3-5 for a Foo Fighters concert. Leave YQM at 1pm Monday, leave YYZ Wed at 9:15am. ~$550 all in with 1 personal item (backpack). Not going to complain.

[DyAm00394]

New Telegraph Journal article:

"YSJ working with Tobique First Nation on building strip mall

Saint John Airport's president and CEO hopeful of a groundbreaking soon for new service plaza.

That’s as the airport’s president and CEO, Court Edeburn, explained there’s been ongoing talks between airport officials and representatives of Tobique First Nation about the development of a strip mall on the property. Edeburn said YSJ has built a strong relationship with Tobique First Nation and that means there will hopefully be groundbreaking soon on airport property for a new service plaza.

“We’ve been forging a great relationship with them to look at opportunities on the land development side,” he told media following the airport’s annual general meeting this week. “For example, we’re doing an environmental land assessment Phase 2 down at the corner by Loch Lomond School, at the intersection there, to look at putting a service plaza, gas station and restaurant there. We’re working with them right now and there’s some other opportunities we’re looking at in the future.”

Edeburn said the airport is waiting on final approval from Transport Canada on its land use plan, which is “key” to future and potential developments on the lands.

That’s not the only change that could be coming to the airport. Asked about an anticipated spike in capital investments in the next few years, Edeburn said the figure reflects the organization’s need to invest in its terminal.

Whether that means upgrades or an entirely new building remains to be determined.

“Our intent is to start to do some major renovations on the terminal,” said Edeburn when questioned about the $8.025 million capital expenditures slated for 2028. “We’re starting those discussions and what that actually looks like. If our ambitions are successful in terms of air service development then we outgrow what this terminal is able to provide in terms of passenger experience, so we’re looking at starting that renovation discussion and really looking at what’s the future for this building.”

Edeburn said those discussions could even mean “a new development” as the 75-year-old terminal “comes with a lot of issues.”

https://tj.news/saint-john-south/ysj-working-with-tobique-first-nation-on-building-strip-mall

[dhottawa729]

$8-million doesn’t go far when talking “big plans”. A runway extension to 3,000m alone could cost $20-30 million (so I heard) due to the rock and watercourse issues present. A new terminal could allegedly cost $75-million+, especially if it was considered on the other side of the runway. I seem to recall hearing long ago that Moncton’s terminal cost around $100M but someone I spoke with in the airport design field scoffed at that and said that was very pricey. A new road getting to it could maybe be $750k to 1-million a kilometre depending on geotechnical conditions.

[Offshore1]

How about that? A parking garage IS in future plans for St. John's International (YYT). How far into the future would be one question of several though. In any event I'm all for it.

https://vocm.com/2026/05/08/yyt-sets-sights-on-multi-level-parking-garage/

[J81]

Originally Posted by dhottawa729

$8-million doesn’t go far when talking “big plans”. A runway extension to 3,000m alone could cost $20-30 million (so I heard) due to the rock and watercourse issues present. A new terminal could allegedly cost $75-million+, especially if it was considered on the other side of the runway. I seem to recall hearing long ago that Moncton’s terminal cost around $100M but someone I spoke with in the airport design field scoffed at that and said that was very pricey. A new road getting to it could maybe be $750k to 1-million a kilometre depending on geotechnical conditions.

Monctons terminal was nowhere near 100 million dollars in 2002. 30 million comes to mind but it was a long time ago and my memory isnt the best.

[dhottawa729]

Originally Posted by J81

Monctons terminal was nowhere near 100 million dollars in 2002. 30 million comes to mind but it was a long time ago and my memory isnt the best.

We’re both right, but I stand corrected, thank you.
“The new terminal building at the Greater Moncton International Airport] (YQM), officially opened in October 2002, cost approximately $28 million (CAD). The project included a 85,000 sq ft terminal, featuring four gates, two bridges, and a new underground parking lot. The investment was part of a larger, $100-million regional initiative to transform the airport into an Atlantic gateway, with additional funding for runway expansions.“

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

Originally Posted by sailor734

Because convenience......and who wants to wait for a bus when you can drive yourself and not be at the whim of their schedule?

Someone who want to save on parking, and/or someone who can easily have someone drop them off at a bus stop for an express bus to the airport?




Here in Saint John, I'd much rather take an express bus to YSJ for $10-15 with a defined schedule of even 3 or 4 trips per day to and from the airport, than deal with unreliable cab companies/ride share apps, rely on the kindness of friends and family to drive me all the way to the airport, or drive myself and pay for parking at the airport (which costs $16 per day).

Who the hell wants to pay for airport parking if you're gone for even 2 or 3 days? Let alone trips of a week or longer?

For most trips, taking a cab is usually cheaper than driving yourself and paying for parking. The problem is cabs and ride shares can be unreliable in Saint John, and an airport express bus could be a much more reliable, affordable, and sustainable option.

I've nearly missed flights a few times because of cabs not showing up on time, or not showing up at all, but that wouldn't happen with Saint John Transit, at least not outside of blizzard conditions that would probably lead to a cancelled flight anyways.

I think an "Airport Express" pilot project for Saint John Transit would be the type of project that could qualify for provincial and federal funding. (along with similar projects in Moncton and Fredericton)

I believe St. John's' and Halifax's airports are already served by their city's transit system, but not sure about Charlottetown and Sydney...

[sailor734]

^ I think you are in a minority and passenger volumes would be way, way too small to ever make such a service viable.

I mean, if you could get the feds to pay for it as a form of green virtue signalling fine, but I think it would be a continual money pit.

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

Originally Posted by sailor734

^ I think you are in a minority and passenger volumes would be way, way too small to ever make such a service viable.

I mean, if you could get the feds to pay for it as a form of green virtue signalling fine, but I think it would be a continual money pit.

Not sure how much volume would really be needed to make such a passenger service "viable" for say 3 or 4 trips to and from the airport each day? I picked these 5 stops as they are some of the busiest stops currently served by Saint John Transit + the maritime bus depot location and the airport.

Express bus lines to airports in other cities typically cost $10-15, so Saint John Transit could justifiably charge $10-15 each way... I don't think it would be much of a "money pit" at those prices.

I'd much rather ask friends and family for a ride to a bus stop 5 minutes away than ask them to drive me all the way to the airport and back... so I usually just take a cab when flying out of YSJ.

I've never even considered paying for long term parking at YSJ when it's more expensive than just taking a cab or ride share... but I have had a cab not show up to take me to the airport before, which is a big reason why I'd really like to see bus service to YSJ (along with positive experiences with airport express busses in other cities)

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

An article from YSJ CEO Court Edeburn:

When you arrive somewhere new, it’s natural to spend time understanding the place – how it works, what people value, where the opportunities are.

But at some point, that reflection has to turn into action.

For me, that shift happened quickly in Saint John. Not long after I started here in December, it became clear that the opportunity here isn’t abstract – it’s very real, and it’s right in front of us.

The question is how we build on it.

One thing I’ve learned throughout my career is that growing air service isn’t as simple as adding flights.

Airlines make decisions based on demand, reliability and long-term sustainability. Aircraft and crews are limited resources. Every new route or frequency has to work – not just in theory, but in practice.

And in our region, the challenge isn’t really about competition between airports.

It’s about behaviour.

People will travel to get the flight they want – even if that means leaving the region to find it. That tells us something important: the demand exists. The opportunity exists.

Our job is to bring more of that demand home. That starts with a clear focus: increasing frequency and capacity.

More flights, more seats and better timing. Those are the building blocks that make an airport more useful, more competitive and more relevant to the community it serves.

But airlines don’t respond to ambition alone. They respond to strong business cases.

That means demonstrating that Saint John is a market worth investing in – a place where flights will be supported, where seats will be filled, and where partnerships will be productive over the long term.

It also means working closely with our airline partners to understand their challenges and help solve them. At the end of the day, their goal is the same as ours: to connect people in ways that make sense, economically and operationally.

When we align around that, progress follows.

Full article:

https://yoursaintjohn.ca/earning-more-flights-for-saint-john/

[sailor734]

^ Think the CEO of Saint John nailed it when he talked about timing. I would (and do) drive to YQM or YFC to get better departure or arrival times or a more convenient connection time.

When a family member flew in from the west coast she chose YFC because of a 9:00PM arrival vs the YSJ option (that midnight flight into YSJ that often arrives at 1,2 or even 3:00AM.)

[bingun]

More headwinds, just what we need...

Moncton airport sees flights cancelled amid aviation fuel cost crisis

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/moncton-airport-june-aviation-fuel-9.7192573

Burns said two of the airport's airlines are making adjustments for the month of June only — at this point. She said WestJet, which flies daily from Moncton to Calgary, will be cutting a total of six flights across the month. So far, she said these dates include June 3, 16 and 18, with three other dates to be determined.

Passengers would have already been notified, she said.

Burns said the other change is with PAL Airlines. She said PAL flies from Moncton to Deer Lake, N.L., onto St. John’s six times a week, and it will be cutting one of those flights a week for June. PAL also typically flies five times a week to Mont-Joli, Que., onto Wabush, N.L., but one of those weekly flights will also be cut.

[miniborder]

Originally Posted by EnvisionSaintJohn

Why pay for parking at all when there’s convenient bus service to YYT?

Originally Posted by EnvisionSaintJohn

Who the hell wants to pay for airport parking if you're gone for even 2 or 3 days? Let alone trips of a week or longer?

A little reminder for leisure travelers that there are many of us who travel for business and expense our parking. The new YYT garage will have no issue finding customers and making revenue.

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

Originally Posted by miniborder

A little reminder for leisure travelers that there are many of us who travel for business and expense our parking. The new YYT garage will have no issue finding customers and making revenue.

Well, again, who the hell wants to pay for parking at an airport for even 2-3 days if they’re not able to expense it to their business? Even if that was an option… why not just expense a cab or limo? lol

For non business travel the duration of the trip is usually around a week or more, so I’d especially not want to pay for airport parking in those situations. Don’t think it’s that outlandish to be calling for better public transportation options to our Atlantic Canadian airports. Even business travelers could take advantage of such a service and expense less

…A little reminder that some business travelers don’t work for big companies with corporate expense accounts.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by EnvisionSaintJohn

Well, again, who the hell wants to pay for parking at an airport for even 2-3 days if they’re not able to expense it to their business? Even if that was an option… why not just expense a cab or limo? lol

For non business travel the duration of the trip is usually around a week or more, so I’d especially not want to pay for airport parking in those situations. Don’t think it’s that outlandish to be calling for better public transportation options to our Atlantic Canadian airports. Even business travelers could take advantage of such a service and expense less

…A little reminder that some business travelers don’t work for big companies with corporate expense accounts.

I am a professionally incorporated physician, and most of my travels would be for week long medical conferences. I would charge my travel related parking costs to my professional corporation as an expense as well. My corporation is NOT large.

Also, even if public transit services your local airport, the transit schedule is often not convenient for scheduled departure times. A lot of our departures in Moncton are in the very early morning before the bus service starts for the day.

[Taeolas]

Well for YFC, when I went on a 2 week vacation out west a few years back, I figured the Cab at each end of the trip would be cheaper than the parking in long term.

To my surprise, the cab ride was significantly higher than I remembered (it had been a LONG time since I cabbed to the airport), and when I got back and looked at the numbers, 2 weeks of Long term parking would have been cheaper than the 2 cab rides (plus tips).

So this summer I'm probably going to make a similar trip, and this time I'm going to take a much closer look at cab rates vs parking rates, and probably will park long term at the airport instead.

[dhottawa729]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

I am a professionally incorporated physician, and most of my travels would be for week long medical conferences. I would charge my travel related parking costs to my professional corporation as an expense as well. My corporation is NOT large.

Also, even if public transit services your local airport, the transit schedule is often not convenient for scheduled departure times. A lot of our departures in Moncton are in the very early morning before the bus service starts for the day.

I am a professional transportation planner and bus service to YSJ seems like a very far fetch and almost certainly not viable, based on my instinct. Ottawa has an actual light rail train serving an airport of almost 5-million passengers a year and not many people use it to get to the airport, except for maybe employees. I live right next to a station and only 4-5 stops away from the airport and still prefer to take an Uber as it’s door to door and I’m less subject to public transit delays/breakdowns etc. I’m not interested in saving $20 when I paid hundreds on a flight and would hate to miss a flight for being a penny-pincher. Not worth it.

[bridgeoftea]

It will only be viable if we are seeing 50+ flights a day in out and of any of the New Brunswick airports.
The lack of light rail / tram infrastructure surrounding the airports in NB making setting up that initial investment a big hurdle.

Even the bus option right now isn't viable. If there is 1 bus running, you still need to get to the "bus stop", so you're talking a cab there? Which can still be unreliable at 4am.
If it's 1 bus, do you need to get there at 4am and wait at YFC for 5 hours until your flight leaves at 9?

Off the top of my head some cities that I've been too that have a good public transport system in place from the airport are:
London, Tokyo, Osaka, Newark, Bangkok all have seamless light rail or metro systems they connect too.
To a lesser degree Barcelona, Vancouver, Ottawa, Toronto.

The public transportation needs options need to be improved to be seen as a comparable or better than having a car before we can talk about connecting to the airport. Yet none of the 3 major cities in NB can sustain a similar lifestyle, access to amentities, grocery, shopping, fun without a car.

It's a shame Fredericton tore their rail network up for a trail.
SJ remove their tram/street car system 80 years ago for motorized busses.
I don't know enough about Moncton's history of transport but knowing Moncton now, the whole city is sprawled out.

[miniborder]

Originally Posted by EnvisionSaintJohn

Even if that was an option… why not just expense a cab or limo? lol

For me specifically? Because I can run errands in Dartmouth Crossing and/or stop by the grocery store on the way home. When the timing lines up, I've also done daycare/school pickup. Both of these things slightly lessen the burden on my wife who already has to deal with me being away somewhat regularly.

Originally Posted by EnvisionSaintJohn

Don’t think it’s that outlandish to be calling for better public transportation options to our Atlantic Canadian airports.

Never said there shouldn't be better public transport to airports - please quote me if I did. Just trying to provide a alternate perspective and some balance on why some travelers might want to pay for parking.