Halifax Stanfield International Airport Developments

[someone123]

Originally Posted by beyeas

Yeah it sounds to me more like a few bad seeds, rather than the whole system being broken.

Actually it is a pretty miserable system in the sense that it produces very little benefit at a huge cost, especially when it comes to the US border. It is also an unfair system in the sense that it tends to be dictated by the US and driven by fear more than careful reasoning.

Searching for drugs at the Canada-US border makes no sense even if you think those ridiculous laws are worthwhile. Pot is grown in the US too and everything else can either be produced in the US (much much more easily than smuggling) or comes from other countries.

It's really sad to note that security in US airports now is actually lower than security in Canadian airports in a variety of ways. For example, on domestic flights in the US they do not verify your passport or ID before boarding, they just look at your boarding pass. I believe this was proposed as a requirement in the US but was rejected as being too much of an inconvenience.

The current system has many elements that cost billions and billions of dollars per year but do not come with any real benefit.

[MonctonRad]

"The new airline is targeting what it calls under-served cities in the three provinces: Charlottetown, Halifax, Yarmouth, N.S., and Sydney, N.S., and Saint John, N.B."


Halifax, Underserved?!??!., Halifax!!

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by David1gray

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/nova-scotia/story/2010/10/18/pei-east-coast-airways-584.html

Jay Hasson, the president of operations, said the airline, which is based in Halifax, will use small turboprop planes that can carry 19 passengers. When the service expands, bigger planes will be added.

"We'll be utilizing about five airplanes to service all the cities," Hasson said. "We have daily non-stops and then we will add more airplanes in 2011 for a total of between 17 and 20 aircraft."

This is the same guy who proposed the hovercraft ferry service between Bedford and the downtown earlier this year -- without having a hovercraft to actually use. I think I will wait and see if this actually gets off the ground.

He is married to Tina Simpkin, the substitute weather lady on CTV Atlantic.

[David1gray]

LOL ya i thought the exact same thing monctonrad!

and ill believe it when it happens seeing as it is the same guy from the hovercraft deal..... which he never had....

[worldlyhaligonian]

Sounds like an episode of the Trailer Park Boys to me.

[Wishblade]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

"The new airline is targeting what it calls under-served cities in the three provinces: Charlottetown, Halifax, Yarmouth, N.S., and Sydney, N.S., and Saint John, N.B."


Halifax, Underserved?!??!., Halifax!!

lol, I'm thinking they probably meant the other cities are underserved. When you look at the flight routes, Halifax just seems to be the hub for this service.

[halifaxboyns]

Originally Posted by Wishblade

lol, I'm thinking they probably meant the other cities are underserved. When you look at the flight routes, Halifax just seems to be the hub for this service.

Based on their schedules - it looks like they have 2 maybe 3 aircraft at the most. It looks like for Sydney, the aircraft will be based there (ends in Sydney at the end of the day). The rest of the cities the aircraft are based in Halifax.

The turnaround times are very quick (20 minutes) - which should be fine for such a small aircraft (16 seater - like Air Georgian uses). However, if they move up to something bigger (like a dash 8) - then the turn around time will need to be adjusted, but it shouldn't be more than 30 minutes. If Westjet can turn a 737 around in 30 minutes; then a dash 8 should be okay in less than 30 minutes.

[David1gray]

Creditors chase businessman behind Maritime airline

A businessman behind a new airline in the Maritimes has a messy financial history in the United States.

East Coast Airways is set to launch service to five communities in the Maritime provinces on Nov. 1. The airline is based in Halifax, and will fly to Charlottetown, Yarmouth and Sydney in Nova Scotia, and Saint John, N.B.

Angry creditors in the U.S. say Jason Hasson, president of operations, owes hundreds of thousands of dollars and they've been unable to track him down.

Greg Crider, lawyer for Ameriana Bank in Indiana, said the bank loaned a company called Vertical Velocity Helicopters nearly $600,000 to buy a helicopter in 2006. Owner Hasson and his wife, Tina Simpkins, were named as guarantors.

Crider said loan payments stopped in the fall of 2008. The bank sued to get its money back, but there was a problem.

"The address given in Noblesville for Vertical Velocity Helicopters to the state of Indiana Corporations Division, when we attempted to serve that address, we were told 'moved with no forwarding.' And we had the same results for Jay Hasson and Tina Simpkins," Crider told CBC News.

The bank seized a partially dismantled helicopter. The aircraft was sitting in mechanic Patric Wells's shop in Ohio.

Wells said Hasson disappeared, owing him $90,000.

"He lied to me on numerous occasions about payments, about his plan, about many different things. Including, 'I'm sending you a cheque,' and it never showed up. And, 'well I sent you that, it must have got lost in the mail, I'll send you another one,'" said Wells.

Companies in Minnesota and Texas say Vertical Velocity owes them about $125,000.

Hasson told CBC News he sold all of his U.S. helicopter businesses around 2003, and that this is all a misunderstanding.

"I'm finding it, as the person you're talking to, very confusing. Because I have documentation of all the sales we made with the company," said Hasson.

Crider said he has contacted a lawyer in Halifax to see if he can recover more than $300,000.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/nova-scotia/story/2010/10/26/ns-hasson-east-coast.html

[halifaxboyns]

Originally Posted by David1gray

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/nova-scotia/story/2010/10/26/ns-hasson-east-coast.html

That doesn't make me feel any better about this airline.
Another jetsgo in the making perhaps. Or should I say, jetsnogo.

[terrynorthend]

I find it curious that local CTV weather celeb, Tina Simpkin is implicated. Interesting indeed...

[q12]

Unpaid loan won’t affect N.S. airline — official

By BRUCE ERSKINE Business Reporter
Wed, Oct 27 - 4:53 AM
The new operations president of East Coast Airways says his past business liabilities won’t affect the airline’s efforts to start a regional service in Halifax.

"This has no impact on ECA," Jay Hasson said in an interview on Tuesday. "They’re two separate entities."

Hasson confirmed that he and his wife, Tina Simpkin, a CTV Halifax meteorologist, are guarantors of a $600,000 loan from Ameriana Bank in New Castle, Ind., to Vertical Velocity Helicopters, an Indiana company he once owned.

Ameriana Bank sued Hasson and Simpkin to get its money back but had trouble finding the couple, bank lawyer Greg Crider told CBC Halifax. Crider couldn’t be reached Tuesday for comment on the details of the loan default.

Hasson said the loan default may have arisen from a mistake in failing to remove the couple’s names from company documents when they sold the helicopter business.

"We’re finding out what we need to do to rectify this," Hasson said. "At the end of the day, I am responsible to do whatever is necessary to make this right."

Kate Marshall, a Halifax lawyer representing Crider, said Tuesday that Hasson has not contacted the bank’s lawyer about the loan default.

Hasson said he was stunned by suggestions that creditors couldn’t find him and his wife, noting that they both have relatively high public profiles.

Hasson is an airline employee and does not own East Coast Airways, which is a subsidiary of Integra Air Inc. of Lethbridge, Alta.

Prior to this month’s airline launch, which received substantial media attention, Hasson was in the news for pitching a hovercraft service between Halifax and Bedford to regional council last year.

On Nov. 1, East Coast plans to begin scheduled flights between Halifax, Yarmouth, Sydney, Saint John, N.B., and Charlottetown.

However, Integra needs to amend its air operator certificate with Transport Canada to offer flights under the East Coast Airways banner in Atlantic Canada.

The required documentation was filed with the federal department last week, Hasson said.

"We’re still taking bookings. We’re looking forward to Nov. 1."

Transport Canada spokeswoman Melanie Orlowski said Tuesday her department hasn’t received the documentation required from Integra to consider a certificate amendment.

Integra president Brent Gateman couldn’t be reached for comment.

http://thechronicleherald.ca/Business/1208884.html

[Buckey]

MSN reports
MSN reporting that launch date pushed back one week.

http://news.ca.msn.com/local/novascotia/article.aspx?cp-documentid=26092819

ok in that article it certainly implies he has no deal in place with the sydney airport and no the Guradian is saying the same about the Charlottetown airport
http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/Business/20...or-snag-en-route-to-provincial-capital/1

I am really trying to give this guy some credit but he is looking like a moron

[Wishblade]

More ways to get to Cuba
Deal would bring airline to Halifax
By BILL POWER Business Reporter
Sat, Oct 30 - 4:54 AM

Negotiations are currently underway to bring Cubana Airways — the national carrier of one of Nova Scotia’s favourite winter tourism destinations — to Halifax.

An announcement is expected within a week about a new source of travel packages to Cuba, said Jerry Staples, vice-president of marketing at Halifax Stanfield International Airport.

"We are in the process of working with the tour operator and the airline to finalize the necessary contracts," the vice-president of marketing said in an interview Friday.

A source in the local travel industry said there is a buzz about Hola Sun Holidays planning to bring Cubana Airways flights to Halifax for regular tour packages during the winter months.

"We’re expecting things will happen quickly, as they will want to get selling seats for winter travel right away," said Staples.

Although a contract has not yet been signed, there is an expectation Cubana jets will begin to appear at Stanfield International this December, he added.

Cuba is a popular destination for the Nova Scotia market, but Cubana has not included Halifax as a destination since the 1980s, said Staples.

Hola Sun Holidays is based out of Montreal and bills itself as Canada’s largest provider of travel packages to Cuba.

Airport officials released an economic impact study Friday indicating the complex is worth more than $1.2 billion to the provincial economy.

The study confirmed the airport community — including airlines, aerospace, air freight firms, the airport authority, retailers, restaurants and other companies supporting the air transportation industry — is a major economic and employment generator for the entire region.

"Together, all our airport businesses have a tremendous impact on Halifax and the province as an economic generator and growth enabler, Tom Ruth, president and CEO of Halifax International Airport Authority, said in a news release.

The study notes that during 2009, direct employment created by the airport was 5,900 full-time equivalent jobs, an increase of 7.4 per cent compared to 2008.

The airport authority and airport tenants have begun more than $400 million in renovation and new construction to create about 7,090 full-time equivalent construction-related jobs and $253 million in wages and salaries.

The study was conducted by Chris Lowe Planning and Management Group.

[macgregor]

From the highway, I saw a small building going up near the Fedex depot. Not sure what it is.

[halifaxboyns]

Cubana eh? Wasn't even on my radar to think about but it's a great idea to put some more competition in for the sun/fun destinations!

[here4theride]

I think the new building beside the new IMP hanger is for Cougar Helicopter.

[Buckey]

Originally Posted by Buckey

MSN reports
MSN reporting that launch date pushed back one week.

http://news.ca.msn.com/local/novascotia/article.aspx?cp-documentid=26092819

ok in that article it certainly implies he has no deal in place with the sydney airport and no the Guradian is saying the same about the Charlottetown airport
http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/Business/20...or-snag-en-route-to-provincial-capital/1

I am really trying to give this guy some credit but he is looking like a moron

now its Nov 22nd

[halifaxboyns]

WestJet adds 4 flights south

By BILL POWER Business Reporter
Thu, Nov 25 - 4:53 AM

WestJet Airlines is adding four new flights south this winter from Halifax. (Larry MacDougal / CP)

WestJet is moving aggressively into the winter travel market in Nova Scotia with four new flights south and a marketing blitz to promote the service.

"We are running jets west to east in the summer for visits with family and friends and will shift flights to a north-to-south pattern for the winter months," airline spokesman Robert Palmer said in an interview Wednesday.

Topping the airline’s new winter service out of Halifax Stanfield International Airport are regularly scheduled flights to Montego Bay in Jamaica, Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic and Fort Lauderdale and Tampa in Florida.

"Due to the availability of aircraft, we are able to offer these flights out of Halifax at appealing times and exceptional costs," Palmer said.

Details of the new winter routes will become available on the airline’s website and through local advertising over the next few days.

"We are increasing available flights to southern destinations throughout Atlantic Canada," Palmer said. "Halifax is getting about three times the usual number of flights south due to its relative size in the region."

Non-stop flights between Halifax and the four new destinations will be on specific days during the winter, from about mid-February to the end of April.

The airline is also ramping up its regular winter service to Cancun, Mexico, and Orlando, Fla., and reducing some prices.

One-way fares to Florida from Halifax will be advertised at a base price of $199 but fees and taxes can add significantly to the cost. Wednesday afternoon, for example, WestJet had two seats available for a total of $917, fees and taxes included, for a mid-February return trip south.

"As is always the case, travellers should shop early as not all seats on an aircraft will be available at discounted fares," Palmer said.

[David1gray]

east coast airways took off today. the price for a ticket between halifax and sydney is over $500. anyways read more here: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/nova-scotia/story/2010/11/30/pei-east-coast-airways-launch-584.html

[haligonia]

Originally Posted by David1gray

east coast airways took off today. the price for a ticket between halifax and sydney is over $500. anyways read more here: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/nova-scotia/story/2010/11/30/pei-east-coast-airways-launch-584.html

On the website Halifax-Sydney is listed at $169...