Quote:
Originally Posted by halifaxboyns
Actually RyanNS - I don't agree with you on the Europe theory.
Halifax's location is perfect on the eastern great circle route - there are 2 great circle routes, one for Europe and one for Asia. Halifax is the last major airport on the great circle to Europe - one could argue about Gander or St. John's but when I did a study on them in university; they didn't have the capacity of infrastructure to support a major hub.
I don't think it would happen right away, but if the population of Halifax were to grow - I could see it happening at some point down the road. I maybe 50 when it happens (so 18 years lol), but it could happen. I'd estimate HRM's population is over 400,000 now and has been growing around 2 to 3% a year.
Certainly the addition of US airways helps with the idea that the Star Alliance could focus here - but AC's decision to close the flight attendant base wasn't helpful.
It will all come down to economic base, population and capacity at the airport. Having a US preclearance is great to build up US flights, what we need to focus on is getting more European destinations. If we could land Lufthansa from Frankfurt and BA from London - then you'll see the european demand grow - same with KLM to Amsterdam.
Also - if oil goes above $100 a barrel; off shore oil and gas development will spur economic growth - which 'should' lead to rising income levels, more investment, population growth etc.
Just a guess tho.  |
I'm not going to lie, I hardly have a firm grasp on airline economics so anything I do say is clearly speculation on my part.
From my understanding, there still aren't the passenger numbers coming out of Halifax, or Atlantic Canada for that matter, to operate high frequency flights from Halifax to Europe. If you look at AC's sevice to London Heathrow it drops to once per week during the winter. If BA or anyone else for that matter thought they could step in and pick up the slack, they would have by now. The fact of the matter is there is no slack to pick up. If you look at cities of comparable size in North America, Halifax already is leaps and bounds ahead of them in service to Europe.
I'd love to see Halifax as a major airline hub but can't see it happening unless like you said, the economy grows and population grows. Also I don't imagine Halifax gets a great deal of business travel from Europe (i could be way off on this) which hurts as this is where airlines make a good deal of money. Maybe with new coroporations setting up in Halifax with the growing oil and gas industry this can change.
Here's to hoping for increased service tho!
I'd actually like to see someone step in and fill the void left by AC when they abandoned their St. John's - Heathrow route. But I think it shows how unprofitable it was if AC still expects passengers to fly to Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa or Toronto before making the trip across the Atlantic. In some cases that would mean going from what was a 4.5 hour, direct, non stop flight to a 2.5-3 hour flight to central Canada and switch planes for a 6 plus hour flight to Heathrow.
They actually used to operate it on a A319 on the St. John's - Heathrow route. I'm not sure if you're familiar with commercial aircraft but this was a pretty amazing feat considering the size of a A319. It really shows how close geographically Atlantic Canada is to Europe. I'm starting to get way off topic here now, but yea, I'd love to see more service from Halifax/Atlantic Canada to Europe, just don't see it as very likely anytime soon.
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