Calgary International Airport II

[Surrealplaces]

I guess it's all open to interpretation. I've always thought of YYC as a pretty major hub for AC because there are a high number of passengers that transfer AC flights at YYC. Simply transferring passengers of course could make most airports a hub, but to what degree...major or minor? I'm going to stick with YYC being a major one

Does anyone have the stats on how many passengers are transferring at YYC? It must be a huge number, given the amount of passengers handled at YYC relative to the size of the city.

Originally Posted by Johnny Aussie

Within this press release from YYC about AC's new flights... the debate about whether YYC is a hub, a mini hub or a major hub for Air Canada or not a hub at all has been resolved once and for all!

http://www.yyc.com/News/tabid/91/article...Flights-to-more-Destinations-at-YYC.aspx

"'As a major hub for Air Canada, YYC is thrilled to be a strategic location for the airline’s continued growth,' said Stephan Poirier, Senior Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer for The Calgary Airport Authority."

If he says this, it must be true!

[MalcolmTucker]

You can work backwards on transborder hubbing stats. Don't think you can using public data for domestic.

[Riise]

I kind of like when the Av Geeks use airport codes. When I see a code that I don't recognize, I look it up and add it to my knowledge bank. I like to see it as more of an opportunity than a frustration.

[VIce]

There are threads on Airliners asking if Pearson is a hub because it isn't dominated in the same way Delta runs Atlanta, or American runs Dallas. In that case it seems like a meaningless point.

[Cage]

Originally Posted by Surrealplaces

Does anyone have the stats on how many passengers are transferring at YYC? It must be a huge number, given the amount of passengers handled at YYC relative to the size of the city.

Anecdotally I have heard 2-3 million physical people for a airport calculation of 6 million out of 14 million pax (airports count connections a two people).

[Cage]

Originally Posted by VIce

There are threads on Airliners asking if Pearson is a hub because it isn't dominated in the same way Delta runs Atlanta, or American runs Dallas. In that case it seems like a meaningless point.

Hub definition is in the eye of the beholder. But the general definition used at airline conferences is:

Fortress hub, over 500 departures per day plus one airline with over 80% market share.

Major hub, over 500 departures per day.

Hub, over 250 departures per day or over 100 mainline aircraft departures per day.

Mini hub, over 100 departures per day.

Focus city, a city mentioned in the quarterly conference call as significant or strategic gods of operations.

Spoke, terminus city in the airlines network also any city that does not meet the above definitions.

[VIce]

Originally Posted by Cage

Hub definition is in the eye of the beholder. But the general definition used at airline conferences is:

Fortress hub, over 500 departures per day plus one airline with over 80% market share.

Major hub, over 500 departures per day.

Hub, over 250 departures per day or over 100 mainline aircraft departures per day.

Mini hub, over 100 departures per day.

Focus city, a city mentioned in the quarterly conference call as significant or strategic gods of operations.

Spoke, terminus city in the airlines network also any city that does not meet the above definitions.

What are AC's departure numbers like at YYC/YVR/YUL/YYZ, out of curiosity?

[yyc_engineer]

Originally Posted by lineman

I could be wrong, but I always thought this thread was originally intended for airport construction (which why I visit this thread) and developments and all this planespotter chatter was just a byproduct.

The first (unofficial) section of the Terminal Connectivity Project opened this week. This is the temporary walkway in the newly expanded (widened) post-security corridor between the B & C gates. Construction is also underway on the widening of the corridor between the A & B gates. Eventually there will be a 600m long post-security corridor connecting the three domestic piers to the IFP, including 8 moving walkways and the Compact Transit System (CTS).



More info on the project here: http://www.yyc.com/en-us/calgaryairportauthority/projectsprograms/terminalconnectivity.aspx, including a very cool rendering of the CTS. Gives a good glimpse into the look & feel of the (not-too-distant) future YYC terminal.


Video Link to CTS rendering

[MMMBeer]

Originally Posted by artvandelay

It's pretty damn easy to figure out what the airport codes mean. There's only a few of them in Canada and the international ones tend to be easier to figure out as they generally mirror the name of the city.

We have aviation insiders here who share useful information about the airport, and this is the way they talk. Stop being lazy and use Google if you don't know what they mean.

+1.

It's not like this big mysterious secret with a steep learning curve.

[DDP]

Interesting to see ACr announce YUL- MEX yesterday and AEROmexico announce YYZ- MEX today, so both montreal and Toronto have 2 carriers on route. Is traffic picking up or do they expect visa issues to get better?
Wonder if people are looking at YYC, even as a rouge flight like from Montreal.

[trofirhen]

Originally Posted by Cage

Hub definition is in the eye of the beholder. But the general definition used at airline conferences is:

Fortress hub, over 500 departures per day plus one airline with over 80% market share.

Major hub, over 500 departures per day.

Hub, over 250 departures per day or over 100 mainline aircraft departures per day.

Mini hub, over 100 departures per day.

Focus city, a city mentioned in the quarterly conference call as significant or strategic gods of operations.

Spoke, terminus city in the airlines network also any city that does not meet the above definitions.

Originally Posted by Surrealplaces

I guess it's all open to interpretation. I've always thought of YYC as a pretty major hub for AC because there are a high number of passengers that transfer AC flights at YYC. Simply transferring passengers of course could make most airports a hub, but to what degree...major or minor? I'm going to stick with YYC being a major one

Does anyone have the stats on how many passengers are transferring at YYC? It must be a huge number, given the amount of passengers handled at YYC relative to the size of the city.

Originally Posted by VIce

What are AC's departure numbers like at YYC/YVR/YUL/YYZ, out of curiosity?

Here in Vancouver, I'd reckon we qualify as a "mini-hub" and a "spoke" city, as there are (year 2014 to date) a total of 229,909 aircraft runway movements, which falls short of being a true "hub." That being the case, calling YYC a "hub" or even YVR a hub in the technical sense is not really true.

Vancouver, however, could also be called a "spoke" airport, with a large number of foereign flags landing here; numerous from Asia, incl. Philippine Air Lines, Air New Zealand, and as of March 2015, four major European tails (BA, LH, KLM, AF), and several American carriers.

However, in sheer numbers, Vancouver is not a "hub" whatever Air Canada says.

YYZ may (in spite of the presence of AC) not be a "fortress hub" like Atlanta, but the number of airlines landing there pales anything elsewhere in Canada, and I am sure that in sheer take-offs, it would qualify as a hub.

[Johnny Aussie]

I'd love to see Ponoka Industrial Airport (sorry No IATA code!)
develop into a huge hub for Central Alberta. Really give YQF some serious competition for the coveted title!

[ACT7]

Originally Posted by trofirhen

Here in Vancouver, I'd reckon we qualify as a "mini-hub" and a "spoke" city, as there are (year 2014 to date) a total of 229,909 aircraft runway movements, which falls short of being a true "hub." That being the case, calling YYC a "hub" or even YVR a hub in the technical sense is not really true.

Vancouver, however, could also be called a "spoke" airport, with a large number of foereign flags landing here; numerous from Asia, incl. Philippine Air Lines, Air New Zealand, and as of March 2015, four major European tails (BA, LH, KLM, AF), and several American carriers.

However, in sheer numbers, Vancouver is not a "hub" whatever Air Canada says.

YYZ may (in spite of the presence of AC) not be a "fortress hub" like Atlanta, but the number of airlines landing there pales anything elsewhere in Canada, and I am sure that in sheer take-offs, it would qualify as a hub.

According to AC's website, they have over 355 daily departures from YYZ. In total, YYZ sees over 700 daily departures from all passenger airlines. So, based on the definition given previously, it would not be considered a fortress hub since AC does not represent 80% of the share of departures. However with over 600 departures per day, I suppose it would fall somewhere between major hub and fortress hub.

http://www.aircanada.com/en/travelinfo/airport/toronto.html

That same link doesn't state how may departures AC has from either YUL, YVR, or YYC. However, using somewhat reasonable logic of looking at total runway movements for each airport, dividing by 365 and then dividing by 2 to split arrivals and departures in half, YUL would sit at about 320 departures per day, YVR, would be at about 360 departures, and YYC would be at about 335. So by that definition, each of those three airports would be considered hubs. You can see where these definitions fall apart though. YYZ handles more traffic than any combination of two of those airports combined, and more international pax traffic (even excluding transborder traffic) than all three combined. So movements alone doesn't necessarily qualify an airport as a hub. IMO, you would also have to look at actual passenger traffic, both transfer and point-to-point as well as, I would argue, relative dominance to other hubs in the country.

Originally Posted by VIce

There are threads on Airliners asking if Pearson is a hub because it isn't dominated in the same way Delta runs Atlanta, or American runs Dallas. In that case it seems like a meaningless point.

AC @ YYZ is bigger than SFO @ UA and AA @ MIA and we have 10% the population of the United States, and AC's mainline fleet is 1/5 the size of those airlines. One can call it a fortress hub, key hub, major hub, or whatever the hell you desire... but that statistic speaks for itself.

[suburbia]

Originally Posted by Johnny Aussie

I'd love to see Ponoka Industrial Airport (sorry No IATA code!)
develop into a huge hub for Central Alberta. Really give YQF some serious competition for the coveted title!

Will never happen. Leduc international is just too close.

[cyeg66]

YQF=Red Deer airport, to the browsing, non-contributing laymen.

C'mon, Johnny, have a heart.
By the way, Ponoka is CEH3 in ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) speak, more relevant to ATC (air traffic control), but you're correct that it doesn't have an IATA (International Air Transport Association) code.


And for context, and truthfully not to kick a dead horse, I immediately remembered this post from about 6 weeks ago. Came off as a little abrasive, is all I'm saying.

Originally Posted by Rusty van Reddick

Stop making us Google airport codes everytime you guys post. Say what YYF are or whatever other obscure locations you're referencing. I'm not nitpicking about CDG or LHR or whatever but your constant insistence on making this thread only for hardcore aviation geeks when it is for and is relevant for all calgarians is incredibly annoying.

A few seconds on google:
http://air-travel.discoverfrance.net/airport_codes_ca.shtml
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_airports_by_ICAO_code:_C

[cyeg66]

Originally Posted by lineman

I could be wrong,

Correct, you could be.

Originally Posted by lineman

but I always thought this thread was originally intended for airport construction (which why I visit this thread)

Nope, but while you're here, go ahead and tickle the keys, add a good thing or two to the convo. Stick around. Share what you got on your mind.

Originally Posted by lineman

and developments and all this planespotter chatter was just a byproduct.

So, wait, you want to hear just about the building and not what any of it is for, or discuss any of the activity surrounding it or its effect on the city's economy? Discussing air routes and airplanes is just a "byproduct"? Ouch.

Originally Posted by lineman

While I don't mind the chatter, being an elitist jerk when someone asks a question is not cool.

Glad you don't mind the chatter, I might've had to fill in a HFR (hurt feelings report).. I'm still wincing from the assumption that I gave a red rat's patootie about how the Oilers were doing... Here's lookin' at you, suburbia

Originally Posted by cyeg66

So, wait, you want to hear just about the building and not what any of it is for, or discuss any of the activity surrounding it or its effect on the city's economy? Discussing air routes and airplanes is just a "byproduct"? Ouch.

No kidding. It would be like the Flames forum discussing only the acquisition and salaries of players, but not actually talking about hockey.

Originally Posted by suburbia

Will never happen. Leduc international is just too close.

Leduc

[McMurph]

Originally Posted by Acey

No kidding. It would be like the Flames forum discussing only the acquisition and salaries of players, but not actually talking about hockey.

Maybe, but the continuous use of obscure airport codes would be like talking about hockey while insisting on only using players' numbers.

I agree with Rusty. Unless you're texting your posts on an old flip phone it really doesn't take a hell of a lot of time to type out comox instead of YWTF. I'm interested in the destination talk and I know a lot of airport codes (writing right now from YUT after travelling from YRT via YZS). I appreciate all the avgeeks inside info. But I'd appreciate it even more if lesser known codes were replaced with actual words.

And yes, I know how to google.

[outoftheice]

Originally Posted by yyc_engineer

The first (unofficial) section of the Terminal Connectivity Project opened this week. This is the temporary walkway in the newly expanded (widened) post-security corridor between the B & C gates. Construction is also underway on the widening of the corridor between the A & B gates. Eventually there will be a 600m long post-security corridor connecting the three domestic piers to the IFP, including 8 moving walkways and the Compact Transit System (CTS).

Thanks for the update! It's hard to tell in this picture... have they actually put tile down in the connector or did they decide to stick with the cheap looking rubber floor stuff that was in the previous B/C connector?