YEG - Edmonton Int Airport

[Coldrsx]

Sounds promising. I'd love to use them to go to Iceland/Scandinavia.

[tuffyy]

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

Sounds promising. I'd love to use them to go to Iceland/Scandinavia.

It'll give Edmonton and area one stop access to the airlines network in Europe; Amsterdam, Barcelona, Brussels, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, London, Madrid, Milan, Oslo and Zurich among many other cities will be in easy reach.

Most of the Airlines traffic is connecting traffic bound for mainland Europe.

[YegFan]

Keflavik...here we come!!

That would be great. My only hope is that they wouldn't abandon YEG and switch to YYC a year or two down the road.

Icelandair used to be quite successful flying in and out of BWI for years. But then they realized that they are better off serving a more international airport down the road like Washington Dulles, so they switched.

[dansk]

Originally Posted by YegFan

Keflavik...here we come!!

That would be great. My only hope is that they wouldn't abandon YEG and switch to YYC a year or two down the road.

Icelandair used to be quite successful flying in and out of BWI for years. But then they realized that they are better off serving a more international airport down the road like Washington Dulles, so they switched.

Wouldn't any business do that if the saw they could make more profit somewhere else?

[hilman]

YYC has a lot more competition/routes to Europe so it would be smarter for them to go through YEG as there is literally one other flight.

[dansk]

Agreed. YEG is an ideal market for them.

[tuffyy]

Agreed, LHR is busy with high loads from YEG 80-90% full according to seatmaps for the next week and beyond.

YYC is well served at the moment to Europe as some capacity was cut as it seemed everyone and there dog rushed to YYC only to start over saturating the market and thinning loads across the board.

YEG has 8 flights per week to Europe at the moment (Air Canada LHR and Transat LGW). This doesnt represent the demand available in Edmonton, it represents being near a AC hub.

Icelandair currently serves New york JFK, Newark, Minneapolis, Boston, Denver, Seattle, Washington Dulles, Halifax and Toronto in N.America.

The 757 is a good fit for YEG allowing for more flexibility in scheduling aswell.

If it comes to pass im guessing 3 flights a week starting in the spring of 2014.

[Rocket252]

Would Air Canada - seeing that Icelandair may cut into some of their European customers - finally be pushed enough to do a 3 times a week FRA run?

[YegFan]

Air Canada has no metal available. I know that they always juggle their schedules, add or remove routes. But I don't think launching YEG-FRA is atop of their agenda.

My guess is that the YEG-KEF would be seasonal in the first place and would have limited impact on AC's strong frequent flyer base and business travellers who need to fly beyond the few European destinations where Icelandair flies.

My only concern is that if Icelandair decides to have a similar agreement with WS (ala YYZ), they could at some point decide to serve YYC instead.

[Rocket252]

If it is of significant importance to them they will find metal.

If the route is successful and draws YEG passengers flying through YYC they may get concerned enough.

[Rocket252]

I know we have had the AC/FRA discussion many times before but with a new player in the mix there may be incentive for AC to move as well.

Wishfull thinking on my part.

[Mercucio]

^^ And AC has a bunch of new metal arriving early in 2K14.

[tuffyy]

Originally Posted by Mercucio

^^ And AC has a bunch of new metal arriving early in 2K14.

Not really, the new metal arriving (787-8's) are being phased in as 767-300 replacements.

They actually just took delivery of another 77W but instead of adding it to a route or launching a new route the aircraft was flown from factory to storage within the U.S. for a short bit.

[Mercucio]

^ Interesting on the storage. Tuffyy in terms of available seats with the 787 being smaller than the 6's, is Air Canada reducing its capacity overall with this move?

[tuffyy]

To some degree yes... But they have also dumped a bunch of seats into a few of the 777-300's they operate to make them high density machines.

The 788's will be used to add a few new routes system wide as well and will also be seen in YEG as they are expected to be deployed on the YEG-LHR route.

[canucklehead2]

Too bad Icelandair doesn't have a direct flight to Reykjavik (Keflavik) now, because they have that wicked electronic music festival coming up in October... If I go now, the cheapest option to get there is via Seattle...

[tuffyy]

A few of you have asked about plans for the new airport in Tulum.

The project is now officially suspended. Terminal 4 at Cancun will now be constructed to allow for greater expansion. The new terminal as announced on June 1/13 will feature 20 additional gates and a design to reflect the culture and the carribean.

Terminal 1 is finally expected to re-open by Jan 2014 and will still continue to use the original design of Remote stands. The interior has been completely renovated aswell with new resturants and a much improved departures area.

I will post few pictures of the artists impression of the new terminal and construction progress as it occurs for those curious.

[hilman]

That's disappointing, I really hate the 90+ min bus ride after a long flight (especially with kids). Last winter we stayed at the RIU Palace Peninsula in Cancun and was minutes from the airport. Even though I love the Mayan Riviera, I doubt we will go back because of that long drive.

[tuffyy]

^^^ Or you can always give me a call! I'm sure I could make the drive alot more painless...

Or trip here is over, we fly back tomorrow. Its been great to see just how much Edmonton has grown from my last visit in 2008!

[Rocket252]

Looks like Westjet is out with their winter schedule. Encore Flights from YEG to Regina, Saskatoon and Grand Prairie. Looks like Calgary is getting a Miami flight. I do not see anything for YEG as far as new transborder.