YEG - Edmonton Int Airport

[lubicon]

Originally Posted by dansk

Because of the merger you think they are not going to continue growing their business? AA is looking at improving their network. Like I mentioned a month ago, my bet is on AA. WS needs to solidify their YYC route before introducing a YEG flight.

The merger is not a sure thing and is currently opposed by the US Department of Justice as well as many States.

[dansk]

That's not effecting their growth plans at the moment though. American and US Airways have publicly stated this week they are confident they will win the legal battles. But I do not see that being tied to the YEG route. Even with our US airways AA will enter our market from my standpoint.

[EdmTrekker]

Originally Posted by dansk

That's not effecting their growth plans at the moment though. American and US Airways have publicly stated this week they are confident they will win the legal battles. But I do not see that being tied to the YEG route. Even with our US airways AA will enter our market from my standpoint.

I am confident AA will be here with flights to PHX, Dallas and another HUB ... like Miami

[Cage]

Originally Posted by Rocket252

And the proposed International Shared flight?

We all need some good news for a Friday

I will go out on a limb here and say the international shared service was ANA to do hnd-yyc-yeg triangle as an attempt to get additional hnd slots away from JAL. If so it may have worked as ANA got more slot than JAL. Remains to be seen whether ANA will do anything with their new canada-hnd daytime slot.

[Johnny Aussie]

Originally Posted by Cage

I will go out on a limb here and say the international shared service was ANA to do hnd-yyc-yeg triangle as an attempt to get additional hnd slots away from JAL. If so it may have worked as ANA got more slot than JAL. Remains to be seen whether ANA will do anything with their new canada-hnd daytime slot.

I would expect these slots to have a very strong use it or lose it clause as they give access to one of the busiest airports in the world and extremely competitive with JAL.

I would actually be surprised if this was given to a YEG/YYC service before YVR but certainly not out of the realm of possibility. As AC is now just developing the YYC-NRT route into year-round while maintaining daily in summer this would be a tough entrant (even though Star Alliance as well) as it pretty much serves a similar market. I would expect YVR to be lobbying very strongly for the route. I could see YVR-HND on NH (with code-share on AC - if that is even possible) while AC continues YVR-NRT (with codeshare on NH as it is now). Sort of what was planned a couple of years back anyway, just all on AC.

[Denscity]

Is NH All Nijon Airways? Or no?

[Johnny Aussie]

Originally Posted by Denscity

Is NH All Nijon Airways? Or no?

Yes it is.

[kcantor]

Originally Posted by cdnklc

an open letter to air canada - their executives are listed here:

http://www.aircanada.com/en/about/media/bio/index.html

and the nomenclature is [email protected]

"Dear Sirs,

According to the Edmonton Journal’s most recent reporting, it is Air Canada’s intention to cease offering flights between Edmonton International Airport and London’s Heathrow Airport.

My wife and I don’t travel a lot but in the last five or six years, in any given year we will typically get to Europe once, Toronto once, Vancouver once and Palm Springs once. On a less frequent but regular basis there will be a trip to Asia and/or New York and/or Florida and/or Phoenix as well and we are in the process of booking a weekend getaway to Victoria next month while also planning a trip to Chicago next year.

We are “loyal” Air Canada fliers and never fly on another carrier if Air Canada can meet our needs. We also NEVER fly out of Calgary or connect through Calgary even if that means changing our plans and we actively solicit the same position from both our personal and business contacts.

We have been loyal to Edmonton International Airport recognizing that every piece of business is an important part of the critical mass needed to create a successful business. We have also directed that same loyalty towards Air Canada because of their commitment to providing increased service and connections such as that exemplified by the above noted YEG/LHR flight.

Business development, regardless of the business you are in, requires both commitment and surety. Air Canada had my business because they were demonstrating those things to the Edmonton market. As long as that was the case, I was happy to provide you with all of my business wherever possible even though you were often not the most convenient and seldom the least expensive alternative (noting as well that we are as likely to fly first class or business class as economy). We were not “on” all of those YEG/LHR flights but were prepared to support the company operating them with those flights we were “on” as our investment in YEG/LHR and hopefully in seeing Frankfurt and others added in the future.

My expectations of a national carrier is to provide a bundle of services that should meet most if not all of my travel requirements and I have always been prepared to purchase the entire bundle to support the total package. The connections you are withdrawing were an integral part of the bundle I have been prepared to pay for and pay a premium for. As you apparently see fit to withdraw your service and commitment to provide and invest in that bundle– even if on an announced temporary or short term basis – to Edmonton, please be advised that I will be exercising the very same prerogative to purchase none of the bundle that remains.

Regards,

Ken"

the following was received in response to the above. i suppose any resonse is better than none but customer relations personnel sure seem to speak a different language than i do. no matter how many times i read this the response seems to be "we have cancelled these flights in order to provide you with better service":

Dear Mr. Cantor,

Thank you for your email to Mr. Rovinescu. It is my pleasure to respond on behalf of Air Canada.

I can appreciate your concern regarding the reduction of direct service from Edmonton to London. Air Canada's commitment is to offer safe and high quality air transportation service. It is our goal to provide sustainable flight schedules and seat capacity that allow our customers to access the widest possible connection choices within our worldwide network.

In light of ever present competitive pressures and ongoing cost challenges related to fuel and other aviation-related fees, it is crucial, in order to meet our objectives, that we seek the most efficient operational approaches for all of our flights in all markets. We review all of our routes on a regular basis. Our recent decision to discontinue non-stop service between Edmonton and London’s Heathrow Airport for the winter schedule was made in consideration of these business imperatives.

We have maintained year-round service from Edmonton to London for the past 6 years. However, despite ongoing promotional initiatives, it has been a challenge for the route to be profitable during the winter months. We would like to point out that:

• Any affected customer will be rebooked to London or their final destination through another city
• Air Canada’s schedule from Edmonton to London resumes on March 29, 2014 with 5 weekly flights
• Daily service from Edmonton to London will be offered from May 1 for the summer 2014 period

Please be assured, Mr. Cantor, Air Canada remains committed to our operations in Edmonton which is an excellent market for us overall and an important part of our global network. We see ourselves as a significant customer of the airport and an important stakeholder in Edmonton.

Thank you for the opportunity to review this with you. We hope we may have the pleasure of welcoming you on board again sometime in the near future.

Best Regards,

...... ..........
Customer Relations
Executive Centre

[EdmTrekker]

"...ongoing cost challenges related to fuel and other aviation-related fees". I wonder if that is a general inference...or to YEG and/or LHR. So the AC strategy is to force us to fly elsewhere at our cost and fill other planes and then get to LHR? How does that reduce their "fuel and other aviation-related fees"? I think it is because they closed the flight service function for the crew some years back and as a result have internal costs to manage - from that poor business decision.

[YegFan]

^ What else do you expect from AC.....

Just like EIA managed to get UAL to commit resources to the YEG market, they should pursue other players like Icelandair and potentially others.

[ACT7]

I'm not sure why this is so specific to AC. This is no different than any other airline developing a hub strategy somewhere else. I don't spend any time on Dutch forums, but I don't think you'll see the people of Rotterdam losing it on KLM for focusing so heavily on AMS. And Rotterdam has metro area of 1.3 million people, with an even bigger 'Randstad' area of 7 million.

Like I said before, I'm not defending AC per se, but crapping on them for dropping a flight in pursuit of more profitable options is a bit misguided in my opinion. Pursuing more profitable options is neither foolish, politically motivated, nor motivated by a disdain or willful neglect of one particular city.

[Jasper and one o nin]

AMS is Netherlands airport. It is also, in itself, a rail hub linking the entire country. It cost 10 euros to travel from one side of the country to AMS on rail and it takes about 70 minutes. The netherlands is 16 million people in an area four times the size of edmonton's capital region.
AMS is a hub for europe, and economic development of local authorities within the NL do not rely on, or require, their own airports as we do in North America. Air traffic and direct flights is a significant economic development factor for north american cities. As such, AC holds quit a bit of power regarding local economies. AC gets incentives from the federal government to the point that it can practically be called a publicly funded airline, certainly a publicly supported airline. I have never seen AC899 or 898 at or near capacity each time I have flown between January and April, so I don't buy their story.

[MalcolmTucker]

AC gets incentives from the federal government to the point that it can practically be called a publicly funded airline

Umm, point these out please? Did they even get anything after 9/11? Don't recall anything later.

[Rogie]

Originally Posted by Jasper and one o nin

I have never seen AC899 or 898 at or near capacity each time I have flown between January and April, so I don't buy their story.

Doesn't this prove their point?

[speedog]

Originally Posted by hilman

^^ Obviously they meant the CMA Einstein, do you also think that the population of Vancouver is 604,000 too?

If StatsCan says it's so, then it is. Yeah, I recognize CMA's but too many people spout off about how big their city is when it really isn't. Never the less, YEG is probably always going to be a secondary international airport in Canada and maybe less. There's maybe 2-3 top tier international airports in Canada and I wouldn't necessarily count YYC among them - yeah, many ppl in YYC would argue that but we're still kind of a backwater place as well in the bigger scheme of things.

[Jasper and one o nin]

Originally Posted by Rogie

Doesn't this prove their point?

i forgot the "not"
meant to write:
I have never NOT seen AC899 or 898 at or near capacity

[hilman]

Edmonton International Airport

Passenger Statistics for September 2013

 

Highlights

¨       Overall 557,566 passengers (5,241,534 year-to-date)

¨       Domestic 453,823 passengers (4,022,238 year-to-date)

¨       Transborder 87,072 passengers (920,170 year-to-date)

¨       International 16,671 passengers (299,126 year-to-date)

¨       Rolling 12 Month 6,891,474

 

 

Growth%

¨       Overall 5.4% (4.3% year-to-date)

¨       Domestic 4.8% (3.8% year-to-date)

¨       Transborder 10.1% (7.5% year-to-date)

¨       International (0.6%) (0.5% year-to-date)

¨       Rolling 12 Month 4.6%

[Hallsy's Toupee]

I think hitting 7 million this year is a possibility

[YegFan]

^ wow...amazing.

The International numbers are the only eyesore...And perhaps AC measures YEG only by this statistic (sadly). But once again, this is a supply problem and not a demand indicator.

[Coldrsx]

Huge numbers.