Canadian Airport Thread II

[Dominion301]

F8 have reached a tentative agreement with pilots on a new 3-year contract: https://www.wingsmagazine.com/flair-airl...NXCD260617013&oly_enc_id=5001D3490978J5J

[Dominion301]

From 12SEP26 to 03OCT26, AF will be bringing the 359 to YQB on one of the three weekly flights: https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/260622-afsep26yqb

I also had no idea AF's YQB departure time is so late this year at 0110!

[fanofYOW]

I heard from a pilot that PD really only needs to fill generally ~50% or about 60-70 pax per E2 to be profitable depending on the route and other factors. Can someone who is more knowledgeable about this confirm or deny?

[thenoflyzone]

Originally Posted by Dominion301

From 12SEP26 to 03OCT26, AF will be bringing the 359 to YQB on one of the three weekly flights: https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/260622-afsep26yqb

I also had no idea AF's YQB departure time is so late this year at 0110!

It's been a late night affair since summer 2023.

https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/230202-afyqb

Originally Posted by fanofYOW

I heard from a pilot that PD really only needs to fill generally ~50% or about 60-70 pax per E2 to be profitable depending on the route and other factors. Can someone who is more knowledgeable about this confirm or deny?

Don't listen to pilots.

Originally Posted by Dominion301

WS unveil a Blue Jays logo jet. 7M8, FIN 386:

Pretty underwhelming, if you ask me. They could have invested a little more and done a better job.

Are they an official sponsor of the Blue Jays? Didn't know that. Not much of a baseball fan, to be honest.

[Djeffery]

Originally Posted by thenoflyzone

Pretty underwhelming, if you ask me. They could have invested a little more and done a better job.

Are they an official sponsor of the Blue Jays? Didn't know that. Not much of a baseball fan, to be honest.

They are "The Official Airline Of The Toronto Blue Jays", even though the team actually flies Jetz most of the time lol. But WestJet has also sponsored the outfield fanzone "WestJet Flight Deck" for the last almost 15 years, so yeah, they are a big sponsor.

[nname]

Very interesting April number out of YVR...

Domestic 1,069,827 (+6.1%)

- Transborder 436,465 (-6.5%)
- Asia Pacific 405,738 (+16.3%)
- Europe 177,792 (+50.6%)
- Misc Intl 148,965 (+34.1%)
Total Intl 1,168,960 (+11.8%)

Total 2,238,787 (+9.0%)

YTD 8,606,691 (+5.5%)

https://www.yvr.ca/-/media/yvr/documents/facts-sheets/2026/04---april/april-traffic-update.pdf


I don't remember we have +50% flights to Europe this year in April... maybe the flights are just super super full?

[Dominion301]

Originally Posted by nname

Very interesting April number out of YVR...

Domestic 1,069,827 (+6.1%)

- Transborder 436,465 (-6.5%)
- Asia Pacific 405,738 (+16.3%)
- Europe 177,792 (+50.6%)
- Misc Intl 148,965 (+34.1%)
Total Intl 1,168,960 (+11.8%)

Total 2,238,787 (+9.0%)

YTD 8,606,691 (+5.5%)

https://www.yvr.ca/-/media/yvr/documents/facts-sheets/2026/04---april/april-traffic-update.pdf


I don't remember we have +50% flights to Europe this year in April... maybe the flights are just super super full?

What new Europe capacity has been added to YVR since last summer? There's no way that big of a jump could be achieved via higher loads only.

[thenoflyzone]

Originally Posted by nname

Very interesting April number out of YVR...

a mistake maybe? Those increases seems very unlikely, unless planes in April 2025 were flown half empty.

Speaking of March and April numbers.

https://www.admtl.com/file?v=0a280d2f-9a51-477f-9136-14954b7e381a&mod=preview

YUL March 2026

Domestic 516,409 +4.8%
International 888,674 +1.7%
Transborder 381,292 -7.9%

Total: 1,786,375 +0.3%

YUL April 2026

Domestic 531,505 +2.8%
International 843,470 -2.8%
Transborder 365,802 -0.9%

Total: 1,740,777 -0.8%

YTD: 6,824,842 +1.8%

Stark contrast to Jan and Feb numbers, with ~4 to 4.5% growth.
International dropped more than transborder in April. Might be related to the war in the Middle East.

On the bright side, US traffic seems to be rebounding.

[Dominion301]

YRT's new terminal has opened: https://www.gov.nu.ca/en/newsroom/new-rankin-inlet-air-terminal-building-now-operational-2026-06-22

https://archive.ph/0Eh9U

Nice looking structure and it's more than triple the size of the old ATB.

[Dominion301]

YQB's Q1 2026 pax stats:

Month / 2026 Total / % Chg vs 2025
January / 169,120 / +9.0%
February / 148,708 / +3.4%
March / 160,222 / -1.0%

[kattiff]

future plans for YWG

https://www.ywg.ca/assets/pages/14126r01E_FINAL_PUBLIC_YWG_Master_Plan_2045_ENGLISH.pdf

[jc_yyc_ca]

Originally Posted by Dominion301

WS unveil a Blue Jays logo jet. 7M8, FIN 386:

As a Jays fan, I approve of this message!

[thenoflyzone]

CBSA implementing free flow international to international transit at the 3 majors.

This applies to any nationality, as long as:

- you are transiting YYZ T1, YUL or YVR.
- have a valid identification and travel documents, including a Transit Visa or an eTA, if required.
- you remain within the designated international departure area of the airport during your connection
- have a confirmed airline ticket for an international flight departing Canada within 24 hours of your arrival.

This is possible because airlines provide information on international travellers in advance to the CBSA.

https://www.canada.ca/en/border-services...ecting-flights-at-canadian-airports.html

https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/travel-voyage/connections-correspondances-eng.html

If you are connecting through a Canadian airport from one international flight to another you do not need to present yourself to a CBSA officer or a primary inspection kiosk for examination. You can go directly to the international departure area to board your connecting flight.

If you are transiting through Canada on your way to the United States (U.S.), you will proceed directly to the U.S. connection area at the Canadian airport, where you and your baggage will be re-screened for security, and processed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

If your flight is cancelled or delayed and your layover is more than 24 hours, or if you leave the designated international departure area of the airport, you will no longer qualify for Free Flow, and you must report to the CBSA for processing.

If your airline offers automatic baggage transfers and your departure flight is on the same day as your arrival flight, you will qualify for Free Flow and will be directed automatically to the international departures area.

If your airline does not offer automatic baggage transfers or if your departure flight is not on the same day as your arrival flight, you will need to retrieve your baggage from the carousel and follow the usual route for international arrivals for CBSA processing. After that, you will be directed to the international departures area.

[Nick]

Interesting that WS was excluded from this with YYC and YYZ T3 not there. Maybe the transiting volume just didn't necessitate it. The YYC elevator for connecting passengers is past passport control. Could've not been worth the hassle.

[thenoflyzone]

Originally Posted by Nick

Interesting that WS was excluded from this with YYC and YYZ T3 not there. Maybe the transiting volume just didn't necessitate it. The YYC elevator for connecting passengers is past passport control. Could've not been worth the hassle.

YYZ T1, YVR and YUL have been doing a international to international (ITI) connection pilot project since 2018, via ITI-specific kiosks, eliminating the need to see a CBSA agent.

This was the next step. The free flow part. This essentially eliminates the need to even go to a ITI kiosk. You simply deplane and walk into the international departure area, which needs to be sterile.

WS was consulted in 2020 and 2021. Pretty much all major Canadian airlines were consulted (8 large air carriers, 8 small air carriers). See link below. I'm sure WS were on board, so the limiting factors must be YYZ T3 and YYC.

I think YYC's international departure area isn't sterile. Could be the same for YYZ T3. Therefore ITI connections bypassing CBSA cannot happen. As for the number of transit passengers, there are some numbers available from the ITI pilot project.

https://gazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p1/2025/2025-11-29/html/reg1-eng.html

For fiscal year 2024–2025, the CBSA processed over 737 000 ITI passengers, or an average of over 2 000 travellers a day, including upwards of 5 000 travellers per day in the peak summer period.

[hollywoodcory]

YYC use to have a sterile international departure area before COVID, but not anymore.

YYC also had ITI specific kiosks too, the passenger just handed the receipt to a officer and were waved up to the departure hall.

[whatnext]

I was watching all the news coverage about the pilot who had the seizure operating an AC branded flight. Why aren't PAL a/c required to be painted in the AC Express branding like Jazz planes are?

https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/video/9.7249649

[Dartguard]

Originally Posted by whatnext

I was watching all the news coverage about the pilot who had the seizure operating an AC branded flight. Why aren't PAL a/c required to be painted in the AC Express branding like Jazz planes are?

https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/video/9.7249649

PAL uses very old beat up Q400's.Small overhead storage so they make everyone usually check their bags. I have flown to St John's a couple of times from Halifax. My most recent attempt had AC bump my 8:05 to a 10:40 about 9 hours before departure. However when I woke the next day to go to YHZ, AC had cancelled the PAL flight direct but offered to fly out of YHZ at 12:40 hang out at Pearson for 9 hours and then take an AC flight to YYT landing at 1:50 AM.
Phoned the Boss and my customers in Newf and said I would not be doing that.Now I won't be able to rent a car there until late September.

[casper]

Originally Posted by whatnext

I was watching all the news coverage about the pilot who had the seizure operating an AC branded flight. Why aren't PAL a/c required to be painted in the AC Express branding like Jazz planes are?

https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/video/9.7249649

I have only flown them twice over the years. Once from St John's NFLD to Halifax and last fall from Quebec City to Montreal. In both cases it was booked through AC and on tickets with other AC flights.

Jazz is deeply integrated with AC. Same check-in app, generally AC branded counters, etc.

PAL not so much. PAL does their own thing. If you start your journey on PAL, they have a different checkin app/site than AC. I believe the counters are branded PAL. If you pre-select seats you can't do it on the AC portal, you do it on PAL website. Inflight service is slightly different. Yes, the bins are smaller than even Jazz.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by casper

I have only flown them twice over the years. Once from St John's NFLD to Halifax and last fall from Quebec City to Montreal. In both cases it was booked through AC and on tickets with other AC flights.

Jazz is deeply integrated with AC. Same check-in app, generally AC branded counters, etc.

PAL not so much. PAL does their own thing. If you start your journey on PAL, they have a different checkin app/site than AC. I believe the counters are branded PAL. If you pre-select seats you can't do it on the AC portal, you do it on PAL website. Inflight service is slightly different. Yes, the bins are smaller than even Jazz.

Seems kind of weird then that AC is apparently reducing the Jazz fleet if it’s in favour of an inferior product.