Saskatoon and Regina Air Service

[jmt18325]

Well, I wouldn't say far superior:

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/business/western-provinces-driving-economic-growth-173441601.html

The per capita GDP is much lager in Saskatchewan and has been for a long time. Winnipeg though, is a city of $800,000 people with passengers of over 3.5M a year, so I don't think it takes much work to guess which (if any) will probably get a European charter flight.

[kalin_10]

It's official, Saskatoon International Airport is one of the top 3 fastest growing airports in terms of passenger growth of Canada's major airports for 2012. Only Toronto's airports, Billy Bishop and Pearson, left to report passenger growth numbers for 2012, YXE will take a pole position on the podium.

Do you think YXE will continue to grow at this rate? Do you believe this growth rate will attract new domestic and international routes in 2013? Where do you hope YXE will expand its service?

[mjpaul]

Originally Posted by jmt18325

Saskatoon is a larger city with more passengers (those things don't always go together, but this time they do). It's that simple.

Saskatoon is also more central then Regina which helps them.

People in Estevan area can easily use Minot...SW corner can go to Billings. Flying from these places offer significant savings for family of 4.

I'm surprised Regina is as busy as it is

[mjpaul]

Originally Posted by jmt18325

I would be very surprised if Saskatoon and Regina got any kind of overseas flight before Winnipeg.

for sure on that....very strange why a city of 3/4 of a million doesn't have overseas flight already. (Thought Iceland air was there right now??)

[SkydivePilot]

When Regina/Saskatoon see routes to Europe is anyone's guess. Saskatchewan is one hell of an aspiring economy with such abundant resources as oil/gas and potash leading the way. YWG is busier than YQR/YXE combined; however, Saskatchewan --- as a whole --- is growing at a faster rate than is Manitoba in pretty well ---- everything. That's all I am saying.

I know that the airport authorities at YQR and YXE are working together in attracting European carriers to come here. (. . . . and they just may do so in the 'near' future.)

[SkydivePilot]

Originally Posted by mjpaul

Saskatoon is also more central then Regina which helps them.

People in Estevan area can easily use Minot...SW corner can go to Billings. Flying from these places offer significant savings for family of 4.

I'm surprised Regina is as busy as it is

Exactly! (but at least YQR's pax traffic increased by 3.9% --- which is still pretty good!)

[jmt18325]

Originally Posted by mjpaul

for sure on that....very strange why a city of 3/4 of a million doesn't have overseas flight already. (Thought Iceland air was there right now??)

Zoom used to fly to London...and then went bankrupt. Iceland Express flew to London and Copenhagen via Reykjavik, but, they are now WOW Aviation, and no longer fly to North America. The thing working against Winnipeg is its location. It would be the least busy airport (other than St. John's, which can use an A319) to have an Air Canada London flight. Halifax is a busier airport (probably, again, because they don't have the problem of losing traffic to Grand Forks), although it had a London Air Canada flight even when it was less busy (probably because of distance).

Based on the 2012 numbers, Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson is again gaining on Halifax Stanfield, and is less than 100K PAX behind. I still don't expect a London Air Canada flight...too bad though.

[kalin_10]

Westjet announced last week that they will be adding an additional Saskatoon - Toronto flight between the two city's on Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday however the announcement did not indicate a schedule. Doing a quick search on westjet.ca, in August, the additional flight, WJA322, will depart at 1245 and will arrival in Toronto at approximately 1750 on Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday.

[SkydivePilot]

Originally Posted by jmt18325

Zoom used to fly to London...and then went bankrupt. Iceland Express flew to London and Copenhagen via Reykjavik, but, they are now WOW Aviation, and no longer fly to North America. The thing working against Winnipeg is its location. It would be the least busy airport (other than St. John's, which can use an A319) to have an Air Canada London flight. Halifax is a busier airport (probably, again, because they don't have the problem of losing traffic to Grand Forks), although it had a London Air Canada flight even when it was less busy (probably because of distance).

Based on the 2012 numbers, Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson is again gaining on Halifax Stanfield, and is less than 100K PAX behind. I still don't expect a London Air Canada flight...too bad though.

With YWG having a brand new terminal building, that would certainly be an awesome feature for attracting future flights over the Pole.

[SkydivePilot]

Saskatoon's airport is 14th busiest in Canada during 2012; Regina is 15th. (Wikipedia.)

[dsim249]

I follow YXE on twitter, and it seems to be an increasingly common occurrence for the parking lot to be full, forcing the use of overflow parking. How far off are we from building a parkade?

[SkydivePilot]

Originally Posted by dsim249

I follow YXE on twitter, and it seems to be an increasingly common occurrence for the parking lot to be full, forcing the use of overflow parking. How far off are we from building a parkade?

I haven't heard anything about a parkade for YXE; however, I'll bet that there are plans for one down the road though. (Similar to that of YQR.)

[kalin_10]

Originally Posted by SkydivePilot

I haven't heard anything about a parkade for YXE; however, I'll bet that there are plans for one down the road though. (Similar to that of YQR.)

A parkade will not be built until the current expansion project is completed. Currently the overflow parking is located where the RCMP barracks used to be - they moved the building to the cargo-operations area this past summer. The parkade will be built in overflow parking lot in probably 2 years time. It is a part of the $105million expansion plans.

[SkydivePilot]

Originally Posted by kalin_10

A parkade will not be built until the current expansion project is completed. Currently the overflow parking is located where the RCMP barracks used to be - they moved the building to the cargo-operations area this past summer. The parkade will be built in overflow parking lot in probably 2 years time. It is a part of the $105million expansion plans.

That makes sense with the cost being $105m 'n all. And of course - as mentioned earlier - YQR is maxxed-out as well. Expansion must be started no later than 2017. Like YXE, YQR will also need the aforementioned $150-200m worth of renovations to accomodate the next 1/4 century or so. That would also include parkade plans.

Our airports are growing strong and consistently though.

[Brutopian]

WestJet will carry two new flights between Saskatoon and Calgary

Airline rolls out new fleet of smaller jets for better regional coverage

Reported by François Biber, NewsTalk 650 CKOM

Feb 20, 2013

WestJet is getting new airplanes and improving service between Saskatoon and Calgary this June.

WestJet had 20 firm orders for Bombardier Q400 NextGen aircrafts, which can hold up to 78 passengers.

Public relations manager Robert Palmer said WestJet will now offer two more flights between Saskatoon and Calgary, filling in an afternoon gap that used to leave some travelers waiting for hours until the next available flight.

“The Q stands for quiet. It’s a real quiet aircraft. It is just about as fast as a jet and we plan to use it on a regional basis with flights between one and two hours in length,” said Palmer.

[........]

Read more:
http://ckom.com/story/westjet-will-carry-two-new-flights-between-saskatoon-and-calgary/97287

[SkydivePilot]

A Westjet Q400 flight between Regina and Saskatoon would certainly work well!

[Stormer]

Originally Posted by SkydivePilot

A Westjet Q400 flight between Regina and Saskatoon would certainly work well!

Why would you ever fly Wesjet and have to arrive an hour early to clear security when you can walk right on Expressair 5 mins before departure? This is a huge difference on a 45 minute flight.

[1ajs]

Originally Posted by Stormer

Why would you ever fly Wesjet and have to arrive an hour early to clear security when you can walk right on Expressair 5 mins before departure? This is a huge difference on a 45 minute flight.

express what now?

[SkydivePilot]

Originally Posted by Stormer

Why would you ever fly Wesjet and have to arrive an hour early to clear security when you can walk right on Expressair 5 mins before departure? This is a huge difference on a 45 minute flight.

Perhaps. (But it'll still work though.) People will still buy tickets for that YQR-YXE route if it is one flight/day. Your argument could be easily submitted to folks who fly between Calgary/Edmonton. (Air Canada; Westjet; Central Mountain Air fly several times/day over there.)

[Davidson]

Originally Posted by 1ajs

express what now?

https://www.expressairclub.ca/

Operated by West Wind Aviation. Flies between Regina-Saskatoon on weekdays.