YVR Airport & Sea Island Developments Discussion

[red-paladin]

Maybe it will be called Potemkin Village Mall?

[Millennium2002]

I was hoping for a few offices above the mall, but nah... that's wishful thinking apparently.

[Kapten]

Westjet encore is eliminating its daily flight to YKA per News 1130:
http://www.news1130.com/2014/02/13/westjet-ends-service-between-vancouver-and-kamloops/ .

I tried this service once in January. The Q400 prop is nice but I did notice that the flight was only about 25% full.

[Cage]

ohhh the indignity!!!!!!

So when can I expect letter from Ian Black deriding the loss of service to Vancouver.



On a more serious note, this comment from Robert Palmer really grinds my gears:

Company spokesman Rober Palmer says the Encore fleet expands to 16 aircraft by the end of this year and the additional capacity could allow it to return to the southern Interior city.

If the flight is not profitable now, why would it be profitable when the airlines gets to 16 aircraft. Also noted that this flight is not being dropped in order to expand services elsewhere in the system, so the flying is being permanently dropped.

[Denscity]

Was it Encore or just WestJet in Kamloops?

[Kapten]

Originally Posted by Denscity

Was it Encore or just WestJet in Kamloops?

Encore.

[trofirhen]

Originally Posted by red-paladin

Maybe it will be called Potemkin Village Mall?

Best gag I've heard on this thread for who-knows-how-long! You got it !!!

[deasine]

I can tell you load factors on the AC YVR-YKA flights are really high (many peak time flights are frequently overbooked). The problem with the WS service is there's not enough of it. You need to have mass in order to compete in these niche markets and WS does not have this. On top of this, WS does not have a big feed to support YKA-YVR-onward traffic. A reliance on O&D traffic coupled with the fact that there are few flight times is potentially the cause of low load factors. It probably makes more sense for Encore to use its extra flight now to increase frequencies on other Encore services to develop mass.

[casper]

Originally Posted by Cage

ohhh the indignity!!!!!!

So when can I expect letter from Ian Black deriding the loss of service to Vancouver.



On a more serious note, this comment from Robert Palmer really grinds my gears:


If the flight is not profitable now, why would it be profitable when the airlines gets to 16 aircraft. Also noted that this flight is not being dropped in order to expand services elsewhere in the system, so the flying is being permanently dropped.

I think you have to look at it from the perspective of optimizing profit. They have n aircraft and the want to make the most profit possible. In a year or two when they all their Q400 aircraft they might go after a less profitable route.

[craneSpotter]

Aircraft change on MNL-YVR, if anyone if flying it next month.

Philippine Airlines March 2014 Manila – Vancouver Operation Changes

Philippine Airlines from 01MAR14 to 29MAR14 is adjusting operational aircraft on Manila – Vancouver service. Planned 4 of 7 weekly Airbus A340-300 operation during this month, will be cancelled and switch back to Boeing 777-300ER aircraft.

[Klazu]

Chuck Chiang: Why the Dreamliner is good for business at YVR

YVR officials have dubbed 2014 the year of the Dreamliner. Based on the first two months of the year, they weren’t kidding.

The Boeing-produced 787 Dreamliner has been one of the most anticipated wide-body passenger aircraft in recent aviation history. Since the plane was unveiled in 2007, airline industry officials have touted its lighter composite construction and energy-efficient engines, which together give it a 20-per-cent greater fuel efficiency than similar-sized older aircraft.

That, the industry experts said, means carriers could both reach markets not feasible with older technology and serve existing markets with higher efficiency.

In February alone, YVR has seen the fruits of that promise — twice.

Japan Airlines (JAL) landed the first Dreamliner as part of a regularly scheduled passenger service route at YVR on Feb. 3. Then last week a second airline, Guangzhou-based China Southern Airlines, also flew the Dreamliner to the Lower Mainland.

What does this mean for YVR and Vancouver’s pursuit of more passengers, routes and business?

At the very least, it appears that the city’s abundant Asian air links can be more effectively maintained.

There are currently more than 70 direct flights between Vancouver and Chinese destinations every week, more than any other airport in North America. In addition, All Nippon Airways’ new service to Tokyo-Haneda and JAL’s 787 announcement has re-focused Japan has an access point to East Asia. Service to airports such as Seoul-Incheon and Taipei are also viable options with this aircraft.

Some have questioned this many — even for a region as closely linked to Asia as Metro Vancouver — can make sense long-term economically. After all Vancouver’s population, economic clout and air service demand is still dwarfed just on the Pacific Coast by that of Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle, and that’s not counting rising challenges from places like Calgary and Toronto).

But one of the 787’s main advantages is that it can allow carriers to serve destinations with moderate demand at a much lower operating cost. And for a medium-size market like Vancouver (with a dedicated and sizable — albeit smaller — group of international travellers compared to some other cities), that could be the difference between having and not having a route in the long term.

Japan Airlines officials have already said they studied the profit potential of switching from its older 767s — with 232 seats — to the new 187-seat Dreamliners for its Tokyo-Vancouver route before deciding to phase in the new aircraft.

While Japan Airlines will gradually increase the frequency of using 787s to serve the YVR to Tokyo-Narita route until it becomes a daily occurrence in March, China Southern has taken a more aggressive strategy. It switched all its daily Vancouver-Guangzhou flights to the Dreamliner effective immediately. Officials from the airline said they would have done it sooner, had delays in the planes’ delivery from Boeing not happened.

This allows China Southern to more efficiently serve Vancouver while it looks to aggressively bolster its Guangzhou hub — already having similar geographical advantages as neighbouring Hong Kong — to challenge other Asian airports for international travellers’ business. (Incidentally, the carrier announced a Guangzhou-New York direct service, days after making the Vancouver announcement.)

This isn’t taking into account Air Canada’s expected fleet of 787s; the carrier will start taking delivery of its Dreamliners this spring. While it is not a sure bet if Vancouver will see these aircraft, conventional wisdom — and the fact that YVR remains Canada’s pre-eminent gateway to the Asia-Pacific region — says that it is likely.

So, expect more Dreamliners landing and taking off at YVR soon. And that’s a good thing for Vancouver’s economic competitiveness.

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/Business/asi...usiness/9540886/story.html#ixzz2uB48DWe1

[sacrifice333]

Booked on a JAL 787 flight to NRT in April. Stoked!

[Jebby]

Originally Posted by sacrifice333

Booked on a JAL 787 flight to NRT in April. Stoked!

Have a safe flight!

[rsxstock]

were there yvr to japan direct flights before the 787?

[Klazu]

Originally Posted by rsxstock

were there yvr to japan direct flights before the 787?

Not sure if you're seriously asking, but yes. Several.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yvr#Airlines_and_destinations

[dleung]

Originally Posted by red-paladin

Maybe it will be called Potemkin Village Mall?

This is why I think the UDP should have jurisdiction over the region... they would save us from stuff like this, rather than just pushing all the crap outside city boundaries.

[tuffyy]

Originally Posted by rsxstock

were there yvr to japan direct flights before the 787?

JAL for one used to route NRT-YVR-MEX for several years using 747's.

[zahav]

January traffic stats are out: huge increases, led by 18% in Asian traffic, but widespread increses across all markets, with domestic and transborder up very healthy amounts!

http://www.yvr.ca/Libraries/Aviation_Marketing/January_2014_Traffic_Update.sflb.ashx

[cyeg66]

Holy shit, wasn't expecting that. Nice numbers! Interesting to note the drop in jet aircraft movements by ~300 coupled with an increase of 800 prop movements. The net result of Jazz replacing CRJ200's with Q400's and naturally, the start of Encore. The golden prop era has begun. As you stated, huge increase in Asia Pacific, but also really strong in domestic & transborder. Is 2014 YVR's year? Maybe.

Nice bump in cargo, too.

[SFUVancouver]

Impressive bump in numbers. So far this year I have flown to LA and South Africa (via Hong Kong) for work, so I am adding to the total in my own small way. I took Cathay Pacific 777-300ER for each of the legs on the South Africa trip; nice plane and much more quiet in the cabin than the 744 I took via London for my last trip there.