YEG - Edmonton Int Airport

[CanadianCentaur]

Wonder what that Icelandair 757 was doing in YEG? Charter? Mechanical problems? Medical emergency? Or some drunk jackass onboard who needed to be removed from the plane pronto?

[tuffyy]

The aircraft in the video was brought in to carry on the flight for another IcelandAir 757 that suffered engine failure near YEG and diverted. You can barely make out the tail of the second one in the background near the terminal in the departure sequence.

Since that time Icelandair has stated via facebook that they are considering YEG for 2014 service.

[tuffyy]

I also notice the 763 that operates YEG-LHR has been parking on a remote stand "between shifts" for the last few weeks on the webcam rather than ferrying out as it did most of the winter. When does the flight go daily this year?

[LO 044]

^Daily flights start this week.

[tuffyy]

Speaking of YEG-LHR looking at loads (out of curiosity) im surprised that the route hasnt been upgauged to a larger aircraft.May 1st for a example AC898 is 92% full (including all classes). Watching it over the winter the flights although reduced in frequency, sit between 80-96% full.

Watching YYC-LHR the loads are about the same... Albeit winter see's no reduction. With the 333 operating the route on May 1st AC 850 the flight actually has only 6 more people booked currently for the same day as YEG...

I would say its pretty balanced between the two cities for loads "most of the time". I however cant see whats in the belly (freight) wise.

[Cage]

Originally Posted by tuffyy

Speaking of YEG-LHR looking at loads (out of curiosity) im surprised that the route hasnt been upgauged to a larger aircraft.

There just is no spare capacity in the AC longhaul fleet, especially in the 333 category. It could be argued that AC needs an additional 4-8 333s with an equivalent reduction in 763s. The replacement for the 763 is the 788 with almost no increase in capacity. A few months ago, the AC CEO was contemplating (at Board of Trade conferences) transferring current 788 orders to 789 once the 789 fleet type is operating. The original order split was contemplated at 30-35 788s with 10-15 789s (some options exercised).

[Rocket252]

Originally Posted by Cage

There just is no spare capacity in the AC longhaul fleet, especially in the 333 category. It could be argued that AC needs an additional 4-8 333s with an equivalent reduction in 763s. The replacement for the 763 is the 788 with almost no increase in capacity. A few months ago, the AC CEO was contemplating (at Board of Trade conferences) transferring current 788 orders to 789 once the 789 fleet type is operating. The original order split was contemplated at 30-35 788s with 10-15 789s (some options exercised).

How about leasing temporarily - Other airlines do it?

[Cage]

Originally Posted by Rocket252

How about leasing temporarily - Other airlines do it?

No available aircraft with a good maintenance track record. This is why even the Charter outfits are now having to get brand new aircraft. The tight capacity for midcapacity longhaul aircraft is caused by production and delivery delays of the 787.

AC has been on the search for short term lease for atleast the past 2-3 years. Aircraft that have come up for discussion are all sourced from India, a place known to be the last destination for any aircraft due to spotty maintenance track record. Now before I get anyones knickers in a knot, the spotty track record is mainly in the tracking of replacement parts and maintenance issues. TO get an Indian airplane up to speed, the new owner or lessee must do about 5-30 million of maintenance repairs to brign the aircraft back up to code.

Looking at the Kingfisher debacle, brand new aircraft are being scrapped for metal and parts because the cost to make the airworthy certifiable is just to great.

[Rocket252]

Condor in Summer 2013 season is expanding North American operation, with additional 1 weekly flight added to Calgary, and Vancouver. Planned schedule as follow.

Frankfurt – Calgary 03JUL13 – 04SEP13 Service increases from 2 to 3 weekly
DE3094 FRA1335 – 1545YYC 76W 3
DE2094 FRA1450 – 1700YYC 76W 2
DE5094 FRA1450 – 1700YYC 76W 5

DE3095 YYC1805 – 1140+1FRA 76W 3
DE5095 YYC1930 – 1305+1FRA 76W 5
DE2095 YYC1935 – 1310+1FRA 76W 2

Frankfurt – Vancouver 07JUL13 – 08SEP13 Service increases from 3 to 4 weekly
DE7070 FRA1235 – 1410YVR 76W 7
DE6070 FRA1355 – 1530YVR 76W 6
DE3070 FRA1510 – 1645YVR 76W 3
DE1070 FRA1540 – 1715YVR 76W 1

DE6071 YVR1735 – 1250+1FRA 76W 6
DE7071 YVR1740 – 1255+1FRA 76W 7
DE3071 YVR1840 – 1355+1FRA 76W 3
DE1071 YVR1900 – 1415+1FRA 76W 1

Has EIA been in conversations with Condor to bring a flight here to Edmonton? I would certainly think we can support a summer seasonal to Fra?

[tuffyy]

Originally Posted by Rocket252

Condor in Summer 2013 season is expanding North American operation, with additional 1 weekly flight added to Calgary, and Vancouver. Planned schedule as follow.

Frankfurt – Calgary 03JUL13 – 04SEP13 Service increases from 2 to 3 weekly
DE3094 FRA1335 – 1545YYC 76W 3
DE2094 FRA1450 – 1700YYC 76W 2
DE5094 FRA1450 – 1700YYC 76W 5

DE3095 YYC1805 – 1140+1FRA 76W 3
DE5095 YYC1930 – 1305+1FRA 76W 5
DE2095 YYC1935 – 1310+1FRA 76W 2

Frankfurt – Vancouver 07JUL13 – 08SEP13 Service increases from 3 to 4 weekly
DE7070 FRA1235 – 1410YVR 76W 7
DE6070 FRA1355 – 1530YVR 76W 6
DE3070 FRA1510 – 1645YVR 76W 3
DE1070 FRA1540 – 1715YVR 76W 1

DE6071 YVR1735 – 1250+1FRA 76W 6
DE7071 YVR1740 – 1255+1FRA 76W 7
DE3071 YVR1840 – 1355+1FRA 76W 3
DE1071 YVR1900 – 1415+1FRA 76W 1

Has EIA been in conversations with Condor to bring a flight here to Edmonton? I would certainly think we can support a summer seasonal to Fra?

Based on numbers when I left YEG it was capable of supporting 5 flights per week with about 190 passengers a day... That was in 2007-08... So could YEG support FRA? Yep, and not just seasonally. Im sure the numbers are substantially larger now. Those numbers were also aside from the LHR flight.

Condor was approached back then, but as I recall alot of the decisions the airline makes are based on German tour operators as they are a charter airline.

[Coldrsx]

One word, BANFF

[EdmTrekker]

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

One word, BANFF

One word they need to know: JASPER
And improved transport options out there....

[Rocket252]

Ah yes I have to keep them straight

Condor - Banff
Air Canada - not enough metal
Lufthansa - other priorities

[Bigtime]

Originally Posted by EdmTrekker

One word they need to know: JASPER
And improved transport options out there....

Perhaps, but:

YEG to Jasper: 3 hours 58 minutes
YYC to Banff: 1 hour 27 minutes

I've never been to Jasper, and all accounts I have heard talk about how beautiful it is out there, but proximity plays a big role in this I think.

[hilman]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

Perhaps, but:

YEG to Jasper: 3 hours 58 minutes
YYC to Banff: 1 hour 27 minutes

I've never been to Jasper, and all accounts I have heard talk about how beautiful it is out there, but proximity plays a big role in this I think.

So someone that is flying 9-10 hours (or possibly longer if they are connecting in FRA) is going to care that the drive is a couple of hours longer to Jasper?

[Bigtime]

Originally Posted by hilman

So someone that is flying 9-10 hours (or possibly longer if they are connecting in FRA) is going to care that the drive is a couple of hours longer to Jasper?

It wouldn't surprise me, why would someone that just flew halfway around the world want to spend approximately 40% of the time that trip took in a car to get to the final destination?

Now if it was 4 hours on autobahn like roads sign me up.

Not trolling, just trying to figure why Jasper is relatively quiet and lesser known than Banff. Surely proximity is the reason?

[tuffyy]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

It wouldn't surprise me, why would someone that just flew halfway around the world want to spend approximately 40% of the time that trip took in a car to get to the final destination?

Now if it was 4 hours on autobahn like roads sign me up.

Not trolling, just trying to figure why Jasper is relatively quiet and lesser known than Banff. Surely proximity is the reason?

The problem as I recall it was lack of reasonable transport from YEG to Jasper, Sundog came onboard but with fairly limited options to Jasper. In addition Jasper is much less developed than Banff and I think that plays a factor in options of things to do while visiting. From what I gather development has increased but slowly.

[hilman]

I would guess that its more to do with Travel Alberta pumping Banff and Calgary by spending a majority of their advertising monies on them (leaving YEG et al with peanuts). But hey, if you think an extra couple of hours in a trip half way around the world is more plausible then good on you

[Surrealplaces]

Both Proximity and services. There are far more hotels/golf courses/ski hills/etc... around Banff. With much more hotel options it makes it easier to handle large tourist groups. The initial reason for Banff having more services of course comes down to proximity

Originally Posted by Bigtime

Perhaps, but:

YEG to Jasper: 3 hours 58 minutes
YYC to Banff: 1 hour 27 minutes

I've never been to Jasper, and all accounts I have heard talk about how beautiful it is out there, but proximity plays a big role in this I think.

[Surrealplaces]

Originally Posted by hilman

So someone that is flying 9-10 hours (or possibly longer if they are connecting in FRA) is going to care that the drive is a couple of hours longer to Jasper?

It would make a difference for me. If I knew that Banff and Jasper had the same scenery, but one was 4 hours and one was 1.5 hours away, I would take the closer one.....it's a no-brainer.

In the end it's probably mostly due to amenities. Banff/Canmore has much better amenities, but the same scenery. Also a lot of European Tourists come to do 10 day or two week ski holidays, and they don't just do the skill hills near Banff they do a circuit/...... Revelstoke/Golden/Fernie/Panorama/Sunshine/Lake Louise. They can hit all those places in a two week period and it's still cheaper than going to the Alps for two weeks.