YVR Airport & Sea Island Developments Discussion

[SpongeG]

has anyone gone down to watch the a380 land? i did tonight it was pretty awesome, quite a lot of people out there too

[vanlaw]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

has anyone gone down to watch the a380 land? i did tonight it was pretty awesome, quite a lot of people out there too

I was there last night. The outlets is a pretty great place for plane spotting.

[SpongeG]

cool, yea i like how everyone stops and looks up when a plane flys over, the bigger ones also seem to set off a few car alarms in the parking lot

[trofirhen]

I'll be equally happy if / when we see Singapore, LATAM, and Turkish fly in.

[LeftCoaster]

Originally Posted by trofirhen

Wow, Thanks LC !!!!
May Istanbul become the new, long sought after destination, as was Delhi.
Again, great information, and many thanks.

No worries, was diving into it myself and thought there would be some interest here.

The new Delhi destination will surely cut into TK demand a bit but with travel into Iran seeming to open up a bit more every year it could be a great transfer point into Tehran and other Iranian cities for the large and wealthy Persian diaspora here.

If things continue well that could be another carrier as well, as with the sanctions being lifted Iran air looks like they are major fleet expansion mode. An Iran Air direct to Tehran would sure be a cool route to nab!

[LeftCoaster]

Originally Posted by Alpine

Warning: Novel ahead! Approach with caution.

AC has been treating YVR so well! 789 service to Narita, Seoul and Shanghai!

Don't forget about the domestic ramp up. 8 widebodies a day in the summer!

Originally Posted by Alpine

I don't know if the ME3 get larger (direct) state subsidies than U.S. airlines or Air Canada do, but I doubt it. In GCC countries, you can employ people on the super-duper cheap, with all the absence of worker's rights that entails. Namely, Qatar Airways treats their cabin crew like slaves, something that has gotten the attention of the ILO in a city.

I think how the ME3 is able to operate so cheaply isn't wages or workers rights but fuel subsidies. Gasoline and subsequently jetfuel is incredibly cheap in the gulf, allowing the ME3 a massive advantage over airlines in countries without fuel subsidies.

[SFUVancouver]

Last Thursday, May 5th, I was changing from a bus to the SkyTrain at Bridgeport Station when I heard a big plane coming in, with whose engine noise I was unfamiliar. I looked up and saw this big flying whale glide past:


Source: Me


Source: Me


Source: Me

[trofirhen]

Originally Posted by LeftCoaster

No worries, was diving into it myself and thought there would be some interest here.

The new Delhi destination will surely cut into TK demand a bit but with travel into Iran seeming to open up a bit more every year it could be a great transfer point into Tehran and other Iranian cities for the large and wealthy Persian diaspora here.

If things continue well that could be another carrier as well, as with the sanctions being lifted Iran air looks like they are major fleet expansion mode. An Iran Air direct to Tehran would sure be a cool route to nab!

Found this:
https://www.change.org/p/turkish-airline...ght-route-between-vancouver-and-istanbul

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by vanlaw

I was there last night. The outlets is a pretty great place for plane spotting.

Are thos cars stopped on the Arthur Laing Bridge to watch?

[nname]

I have a feeling that, if we get IST, we may end up losing DEL...

[trofirhen]

Originally Posted by nname

I have a feeling that, if we get IST, we may end up losing DEL...

Others have said that, and it might be true .... but .... DELHI is way closer over the Pacific than by an extension of a Middle Eastern airline, which crosses the opposite longitude * at Dubai.
Anything going (hypothetically of course) YVR - DBX would goe pretty much straight over the N Pole.
DEL is far to the west of the Gulf region, and it's a whole lot cheaper to transfer through China (as everyone well knows) than to go the long way round; "doubling back" adding distance and fuel$$$

From as near as Doha, just to the west, the flight arc, tilts over the Atlantic (nearing the N Ple as well, of course) and Muscat, Oman, it tilts Pacific-ward.
IST considerably westward of our longitudinal opposite, DBX !!! Istanbul might be good for the ME region (the Iranian diaspora, people from the Caucasus, even into the Persian Gulf itself), East Africa, Seychelles .... but it is true distance overkill to go onward to DELHI.
And there is a large O&D (check Leftcoaster's research) into Turkey, so much so that this is really worth looking at. I see no threat to Delhi here: that's a Pacific route, Istanbul is Atlantic.

https://www.change.org/p/turkish-airline...ght-route-between-vancouver-and-istanbul

[vanlaw]

Originally Posted by whatnext

Are thos cars stopped on the Arthur Laing Bridge to watch?

It was definitely odd timing. Yes a car stopped and then another two right before the plane came over the bridge, then someone got out of the first car so I thought it was maybe a fender bender or something. I have a video of it and just watched it again. The second and third cars pulled around and left and the guy stood there while the plane passed overhead, so it actually looks like he got out to watch the plane. Idiot.

[Johnny Aussie]

Nice to see other cities' perspectives when it comes to new routes.

Here is SJC airport's "Celebrating" the launch of AC's new SJC-YVR flight earlier today.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FsyLy6Z99hU

[Johnny Aussie]

Originally Posted by LeftCoaster

Don't forget about the domestic ramp up. 8 widebodies a day in the summer!

It's more than that! Just 8 to YYZ don't forget about YUL. So 10 daily domestic. That's up from about 7 last summer. And of course EWR daily 787-8.

EWR is now showing daily year-round 787-8. However with BNE switching to a 787-9 I'm thinking this may change as this plane is rotating through BNE-YVR-EWR-YVR-BNE through the summer. A 788 on EWR might be a bit of overkill for the winter.

[Hourglass]

Originally Posted by vanlaw

It was definitely odd timing. Yes a car stopped and then another two right before the plane came over the bridge, then someone got out of the first car so I thought it was maybe a fender bender or something. I have a video of it and just watched it again. The second and third cars pulled around and left and the guy stood there while the plane passed overhead, so it actually looks like he got out to watch the plane. Idiot.

That reminds me of the time I was exiting off the M4 motorway to London Heathrow. It was right when the last ever British Airways Concorde flight from JFK was coming in on final approach. I think almost everyone pulled over, jumped out of their cars and ran up to the top of the banks on either side of the road to get a better view.

But at least they pulled over to the side of the road...

[casper]

Originally Posted by Johnny Aussie

It's more than that! Just 8 to YYZ don't forget about YUL. So 10 daily domestic. That's up from about 7 last summer. And of course EWR daily 787-8.

EWR is now showing daily year-round 787-8. However with BNE switching to a 787-9 I'm thinking this may change as this plane is rotating through BNE-YVR-EWR-YVR-BNE through the summer. A 788 on EWR might be a bit of overkill for the winter.

As Air Canada builds up the number of flights to Asia and Australia I think we will see more domestic and US widebody service. If a return flight from Vancouver to an Asia destination does not fit nicely into a 24 hour block they either having the aircraft sitting in the airport for an extended period of time or try to fit in a round trip to a nearby destination.

[mezzanine]

Not sure if this was posted. IIRC, the new calgary intl terminal will open in the fall. Will we see WJ transpacific flights? If so, from YVR or YYC?

http://www.vancouversun.com/travel/asia+...cluding+flights+asia/11750237/story.html

As Alberta’s economy weakens, Calgary’s loss has been Vancouver’s gain. WestJet has started moving capacity away from Calgary to airports in Vancouver and Toronto, and YVR gained direct flights to Hamilton and London, Ont. this summer partially due to that shift.

But Saretsky said it is still up in the air whether Calgary or Vancouver (or both) makes sense as a jumping-off point for an eventual entry into the Asian market, specifically China. Calgary has been eager to expand its reach into Asia — it currently only has an Air Canada service to Tokyo (Narita), but a Hainan Airlines route to Beijing, with a code-share agreement with WestJet, is starting in June.

“It’s a function of supply and demand,” Saretsky said of the eventual decision between Vancouver or Calgary. “So we obviously look at where the demand is coming from. Vancouver benefits from having such a big Asian community to begin with, and the (visitors, families and relatives) segment from Vancouver is quite a bit larger just because the community is quite a bit larger than Calgary’s.”

But he also added that the airline has to consider the inbound demand from China, of the middle-class traveller in “secondary cities” seeking new tourism experiences. In that sense, Calgary, with its proximity to the Rockies, may be underserved.

“There’s a very rapidly growing middle-class in China, and they — like tourists all over the world — are looking for new experiences,” Saretsky said. “Because the cities they come from — a small city in China is eight million people — the opportunity to come to Alberta to experience the great outdoors, the Rockies, and to see the magnificent nature we have in Canada will be a big attraction, I think.”

[LeftCoaster]

I think WJ would be crazy to launch from YYC.

Eventually WJ asia flights from YYC could make a lot of sense but you want to launch from a place of strength, not take a gamble on a potentially unserved market.

Build up some brand recognition out of YVR then boost go from YYC. Makes the most sense to me.

[nname]

There are much more cities that can be reached by direct 767 from YVR than from YYC. For instance, a direct Shanghai flight would likely require weight restriction from YYC whereas YVR could take the full load.

[SFUVancouver]

^ I frequently forget that the 767 was once a mainstay of the transoceanic long-haul market before the B777 and A330 offered better operating choices.

I agree that WestJet would be far better positioned to get traction on their entry into the Asian market by flying out of Vancouver and offering effectively a JetStar-like quasi-low cost long haul carrier option. In that vein, I can see WestJet just leap-frogging any future hand-me-down aircraft and going straight to 788 or even 789 as their long-haul aircraft of choice and operate a simple three type fleet: Bombardier Q400s for turboprop routes, B737s for single-aisle work, and B787s for long-haul routes. They'll have low margins on long-haul routes with the lack of first and true business class seats, but can pack in a decent number of economy and economy plus (and likely a smattering of business class seats up front) into a Dreamliner and ride the low operating costs all the way to some decent long-haul routes. Drop the 767s when it makes sense and just short term lease when seasonal demand warrants it.