Saskatoon and Regina Air Service

[kalin_10]

United's direct from YXE to ORD began today.

[kalin_10]

Jonathan Charlton
The StarPhoenix
August 29, 2013

STARS air ambulance serve will have more options with a new aircraft slated to take up residence in a new hangar.

The hangar, on Airport Road, is 60 per cent complete. It’s scheduled to be completed in November and the AW139 medical helicopter will arrive in 2014.

PotashCorp is picking up the $27 million tab.

Compared to STARS’ current Eurocopter BK117, the AW139 is larger, faster, has better range, has more space and is more comfortable, vice president Ron Dufresne said.

There will still only be one aircraft used at a time and STARS is still figuring out how to decide which one to use in a given situation. It could depend on a combination of distance, the capacity of the landing zone, or the maintenance schedule of the aircraft.

The hangar will be larger than the space STARS currently rents from Kreos Aviation. In addition to the second helicopter it will house the Saskatchewan STARS foundation team and medical and aviation teams. It will also have training and simulation facilities.

Read more...

[skyhigh953]

Has anyone heard when the new YXE expansion will be open? I thought I remember hearing Sept 2013. Does anyone have any photos of the new interior?

[kalin_10]

Originally Posted by skyhigh953

Has anyone heard when the new YXE expansion will be open? I thought I remember hearing Sept 2013. Does anyone have any photos of the new interior?

It's suppose to be at the end of the month... but you know how that goes. Might be later. I am waiting to get access for photos. Will post when I am able to obtain some.

[Brutopian]

Airport Phase 1 Expansion Almost Complete


Written by Carol Thomson, saskatoonhomepage.ca

Wednesday, 18 September 2013

2 years after they announced the project, the Saskatoon Airport is almost done the first phase of their expansion.

The first stage will include larger waiting and boarding areas, and will include bridges into the airport. It's expected to be finished by the beginning of October.

Steven Maybury, the president and CEO of the airport, says that one of the toughest parts of the expansion was working at a building that was operating 24 hours a day.

[........]

Read more:
http://www.saskatoonhomepage.ca/airport-phase-1-expansion-almost-complete/itemid_21

[kalin_10]

Written by Adam Brilz
Thursday, 19 September 2013
Saskatoonhomepage.ca

The World Routes 2013 could be a major step in getting Saskatoon flights to Europe.

The worldwide conference involves the top airlines around the world, and Saskatoon Airport is sending a representitive on their behalf.

According to president and CEO of the airport Steven Maybury, the conference is very important, as there is a chance to have face-to-face conversations.

He also says that the airport is currently in the midst of a long-term plan to get European flights to Saskatoon.

The World Routes conference takes place in Las Vegas on October 6th- 8th.


http://www.saskatoonhomepage.ca/world-routes-conference-major-step-for-saskatoon-airport/itemid_21

[EpicPonyTime]

Iceland eyed as way to get to Europe from Saskatoon

Regina Leader Post - 09/27/13

Saskatoon travellers may be flying through Reykjavik, Iceland, on their way to European destinations in the future.

"It is about a 4½-hour (faster) time difference going that route than down to Toronto," said Todd Brandt, president and CEO of Tourism Saskatoon.

Brandt is part of a Saskatchewan delegation heading to World Routes 2013 taking place Oct. 5-8 in Las Vegas. More than 3,000 delegates from 100 countries are expected to attend the event.

The Saskatoon and Regina airport authorities will be accompanied by Saskatchewan tourism organizations looking to enhance air service to the province.

"Our priorities would look toward a Central Europe connection ... enhanced from what we have right now," Brandt said.

That's where Iceland Air comes into play.

"You are routing through Reykjavik, Iceland, but it is a much quicker trip from Saskatchewan into Europe via Iceland than it would be going south through Toronto," Brandt said. "From their network (in Reykjavik) they go into many, many different parts of Europe."

He said Saskatoon is an ideal market for the airline, which has already expanded into places like Edmonton and Anchorage, Alaska.

[....]

http://www.leaderpost.com/business/Iceland+eyed+Europe+from+Saskatoon/8965965/story.html

[casper]

Originally Posted by EpicPonyTime

Iceland eyed as way to get to Europe from Saskatoon

Regina Leader Post - 09/27/13



http://www.leaderpost.com/business/Iceland+eyed+Europe+from+Saskatoon/8965965/story.html

Good move. They flyer smaller planes that should make the case for a regular Saskatoon and/or Regina flight easier. A few weeks ago they announced sessional service to Edmonton and Vancouver.

[kalin_10]

Originally Posted by casper

Good move. They flyer smaller planes that should make the case for a regular Saskatoon and/or Regina flight easier. A few weeks ago they announced sessional service to Edmonton and Vancouver.

A station stop in Regina (Regina-Saskatoon-Iceland) would make sense as they were doing with the United Chicago Flight if they want to test the waters before establishing a Saskatoon only direct flight. I took a look at Iceland Air connections to Europe and they have decent offerings from Munich, Frankfurt, Stockholm, Amsterdam, London, Paris, Berlin, among others. I'd make the assumptiont that if SAA was able to establish an agreement with Iceland Air it would only be a 1X weekly charter flight during the summer. It's a decent offering - establishing an international air carrier definitely shows confidence in the Saskatoon market. It could attract further offering by other carriers or carriers already established in Saskatoon.

I'm still waiting for Westjet to make it's Vegas service year-round from YXE (at a lesser frequency) and Phoenix to match Regina's 3x weekly service. Who knows, maybe Westjet or Air Canada would take a leap a faith and establish a much needed direct flight to Los Angelos for those connections to Oceania destinations (New Zealand, Australia) to minimize the current connection through Denver/Minni/Chicago.

Steve Maybury has said that come the completion of Phase II, he expects further air service expansion. I really hope the expansion does attract further routes as it would be an expensive investment if no new destinations are added.

What new destinations would you like to see and why from YXE?

[Stormer]

Station stops are fine for 50 seat regional jets, but it gets expensive to take of an land jumbo jets. Plus there's more crew so more time lost.

It would probably make more sense to do KEF-YXE-KEF-YQR-KEF-YXE, etc. I believe this is how winter charters such as Sunwing do it. You could throw YWG into the mix.

[SkydivePilot]

Originally Posted by Stormer

Station stops are fine for 50 seat regional jets, but it gets expensive to take of an land jumbo jets. Plus there's more crew so more time lost.

It would probably make more sense to do KEF-YXE-KEF-YQR-KEF-YXE, etc. I believe this is how winter charters such as Sunwing do it. You could throw YWG into the mix.

I'd definitely concur with that.

[Stormer]

Originally Posted by SkydivePilot

I'd definitely concur with that.

Haha! I was actually going to add: "Skydivepilot do you concur?"

[craneSpotter]

Originally Posted by Stormer

It would probably make more sense to do KEF-YXE-KEF-YQR-KEF-YXE, etc. I believe this is how winter charters such as Sunwing do it. You could throw YWG into the mix.

not to intrude, but...

Icelandair is a very interesting company and will be one to watch. They have changed their business plan recently and definitely look to be expanding fast - particularly with transatlantic connections from NA to/from Europe. They apparently like to operate from airports where they feel they have some sort of advantage (over the majors) and can establish a niche market. They seem to be (kind of) the Allegiant of the International world - albeit with better service and more comfortable aircraft. They currently only use older narrow-body 757s and plan to add several more before they start taking delivery of new 737MAXs in 2018.

this is an interesting read on them: http://m.aviationweek.com/Article.aspx?id=/article-xml/AW_09_16_2013_p40-613656.xml&p=2

I think YWG would be the next logical choice for them in Canada. Currently the smallest airport they connect KEF to is Halifax - which serves 3.5 million PAX per year - about the same as Winnipeg. They like to do non-stop flights, so sharing a plane and alternating between YQR/YXE would make sense like you pointed out. I think they could add Saskatchewan as early as 2018 - especially if the population growth continues - you guys could have another 100-125,000 people out there by 2018.

[kattiff]

hey im from Winnipeg and I was just gonna say that my friends friend works for Delta in Winnipeg and the Winnipeg Delta people run Regina. and they said that Regina is getting dual class planes and Saskatoon is as well for a few months on random days due to the hunters flying in, just thought I would share lol.

and after reading about Iceland. north of Winnipeg is a town called Gimli which Im pretty sure its the largest Icelandic population in the world outside of Iceland. Winnipeg use to have direct service to KEF with Iceland Express but they pulled out and Winnipeg has been waiting for an Iceland flight to return, we built a stupid new building we need the planes haha. if not then Air Transat has been hinting for Europe flights in the summer

[kalin_10]

Originally Posted by kattiff

hey im from Winnipeg and I was just gonna say that my friends friend works for Delta in Winnipeg and the Winnipeg Delta people run Regina. and they said that Regina is getting dual class planes and Saskatoon is as well for a few months on random days due to the hunters flying in, just thought I would share lol.

Delta's flight through YXE to Minni have been dual class for at least the last three years. Though the aircraft only has I believe 5 business seat, its been like this for awhile.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by kattiff

and after reading about Iceland. north of Winnipeg is a town called Gimli which Im pretty sure its the largest Icelandic population in the world outside of Iceland. Winnipeg use to have direct service to KEF with Iceland Express but they pulled out and Winnipeg has been waiting for an Iceland flight to return, we built a stupid new building we need the planes haha. if not then Air Transat has been hinting for Europe flights in the summer

The connections to Iceland in Gimli are more ancestral than anything. Thousands of people immigrated here from Iceland, but that was a century ago and the bonds aren't very strong anymore. There have been a few new arrivals since the economic crash there, but we're talking a few dozen people. Hardly enough to generate much origin-destination traffic to Reykjavik.

That said, I could see Icelandair potentially coming to YWG (and YQR, and YXE for that matter) in the future for the same reason it came to YEG: to connect an underserved market with European destinations via KEF.

[Stormer]

Originally Posted by esquire

The connections to Iceland in Gimli are more ancestral than anything. Thousands of people immigrated here from Iceland, but that was a century ago and the bonds aren't very strong anymore. There have been a few new arrivals since the economic crash there, but we're talking a few dozen people. Hardly enough to generate much origin-destination traffic to Reykjavik.

That said, I could see Icelandair potentially coming to YWG (and YQR, and YXE for that matter) in the future for the same reason it came to YEG: to connect an underserved market with European destinations via KEF.

I know some folks of Icelandic ancestry from that area. In fact there are 26,000 of them. The ones I know do travel to the old country even though they were all born here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Iceland

[wacko]

Originally Posted by kalin_10

What new destinations would you like to see and why from YXE?

I don't know about YXE, but from YQR I'd like to see a direct flight to Palm Springs. My parents go there every fall, and sometimes I join them as well.

As for Iceland, sounds like an interesting destination to visit. I'd even consider driving up to Saskatoon for a direct flight. Even better would be if it made for a decent connection to Oslo. Norway is the "old country" for us, and I've never been there.

[skyhigh953]

I agree, flights to Palm Springs would be awesome, however I don't think it will happen as they don't have US Customs clearance in PSP...all Westjet flights from Canada leave from airports with pre-clearance. I don't think our volumes are close to the threshold for US Pre-clearance yet, are they?

In addition to PSP, I would like to see a direct flight to LAX, and also more frequency by AC to YVR...I find AC charges a lot for the direct YVR flights, and when connecting throughout YVR it is often cheaper to connect in YYC then on to YVR...which makes for an extremely long day when flying to Asia.

[kalin_10]

For those who still hold a grudge about the dismantling of the Avro Arrow

• Video Link