^ The exodus continues
I really hope the airport finds a way to correct itself out of all this hoarding and boarding mess. I'm sure all that revenue lost from so many vacant spaces will in some way or form translate to higher cost for users like us either with more AIF or parking increases. I'm actually just waiting for that to happen. PUblic opinion of the current facilities might have taken a dive too.
A long time ago YYC marketed itself as a local shopping destination and I think there was some success to it since a few stores there did not exist in mainstream malls. That was when YYC was just topping past 10million pax a year, now at almost 17 it should mean more opportunities to cash in, They really need to hire a smart architect to completely reconfigure the space planning at groundside to better integrate with the passenger trends that are happening now. Personally, I would put in a winter garden smack dab in the middle where the desertion is the worst.
Routes USA: It is good to see some routes like SLC coming back mainline.. Boy I remember flying on the Delta 727-224s back in the 1990s and i think that might of even been the final year so a long long time coming.
It would also be nice if there are some US arrivals in the morning hrs, the first flights always land around 1130-noon, so if there is a market out there for O/D-Connection within our country or onwards Int'l connection incl. sun destinations, It would be a good boost. Obviously many of these would depart there 6-7am. The new terminal despite my own gripes earlier which is mostly to do with its design, it does function very well and offers an improved experience compared to the current facilities. In a 1000km radius YYC would be a crowning jewel compared to the likes of SEA and PDX not to mention all the congestion and delays a busy and crammed airport will have. If some arrangements can be done to make it easy enough for Americans living close to the AB border to hop on an hr flight to YYC, bypass customs and just transit over within the terminal to a connecting canadian partner airline to head to Mexico or someplace, I think potentially the time savings may rival or improve upon the hassles of dealing with a ultra busy airport that is becoming more and more strained in infrastructure. Maybe a bit of payback for all the Canadians being lured to go across the border to use secondary airports on ULCCs..
I also have not seen any Winter charters in a while. These used to have the likes of Monarch/Air Tours combo back in the day and the traffic moving through to the mountains were quite impressive. Almost 500 pax twice a week from Dec-Mar, not too damn bad at all! Get them away from overcrowded european resorts and come over to the rockies!