YVR Airport & Sea Island Developments Discussion

[Johnny Aussie]

Not much to post atm.
Schedules unreliable and change as fast as the tides.
Passenger numbers are currently irrelevant/mean nothing.
I’m shocked it’s taken THIS long for governments to act.
Head in the sand long enough?
Wait until there are 10s of thousands of deaths before they do anything substantial?
Looking at FR24 still plenty of intl heavy carriers plying the YVR skies though...

[WestCoastEcho]

Originally Posted by Johnny Aussie

Not much to post atm.
Schedules unreliable and change as fast as the tides.
Passenger numbers are currently irrelevant/mean nothing.
I’m shocked it’s taken THIS long for governments to act.
Head in the sand long enough?
Wait until there are 10s of thousands of deaths before they do anything substantial?
Looking at FR24 still plenty of intl heavy carriers plying the YVR skies though...

A lot of these aircraft are pretty devoid of passengers; it's belly cargo that's the big source of revenue right now.

You may not realize this, but about 90% of the world's air freight market is moved by passenger jets. So, if you've ever flown overseas, chances are is that there was air cargo underneath you, either exporting goods, or importing goods.

Many of these airlines are maintaining their widebody schedules precisely because of a shortage of dedicated cargo aircraft; air cargo rates are sky high right now because of a general shortage of capacity in the air cargo market, so airlines are able to fly their widebody aircraft around without any passengers and probably break even precisely because the cargo rates are so high.

[djmk]

Originally Posted by Johnny Aussie

Looking at FR24 still plenty of intl heavy carriers plying the YVR skies though...

There is a shocking difference between Seattle and Vancouver on FR24 right now

[jlousa]

I flew to Europe at the beginning of the month. Yvr to cdg then onto Lisbon. The flight to Paris was from Tahiti af0074 which stops in vancouver before continuing on. It only picked up about 60 people in Vancouver but ended up being about 90% full. Once in Paris the airport there was quite busy and the flight onto Lisbon was at least 90%full. Flight backwards we were supposed to do Lisbon - Paris- Amsterdam - Vancouver but the Lisbon flight was delayed 3hrs due to ice of all things. That flight was close to 100% full. Due to missing my connecting flights (interestsingly my original Amsterdam - Vancouver flight ended up having positive cases on it) ended up having to overnight in Paris and again catch the Tahiti flight stopping in vancouver to get home. This one was again about 90% full, not too many people got off in Vancouver maybe a few dozen. No idea if anyone got on here. Had taken the covid test 3 days before my flight but due to the delay in flights it was outside the window when I landed. Customs didnt care on my brothers but made me stop to see a Public health official who didnt know what to do. They eventually let me through. I'm finishing up my 14 day quarantine in a couple more days. Brother has had 0 calls nor visits. I've had 0calls from the feds, 2 calls from the province (day 5 and 11) and no visits.

[Johnny Aussie]

Originally Posted by WestCoastEcho

A lot of these aircraft are pretty devoid of passengers; it's belly cargo that's the big source of revenue right now.

You may not realize this, but about 90% of the world's air freight market is moved by passenger jets. So, if you've ever flown overseas, chances are is that there was air cargo underneath you, either exporting goods, or importing goods.

Many of these airlines are maintaining their widebody schedules precisely because of a shortage of dedicated cargo aircraft; air cargo rates are sky high right now because of a general shortage of capacity in the air cargo market, so airlines are able to fly their widebody aircraft around without any passengers and probably break even precisely because the cargo rates are so high.

I’d assume very few are carrying passengers.

A lot of widebody fleets are still grounded.

These latest “restrictions” are so disjointed with so many cracks in them. Not going to really do much good. I’m just shocked at how long it’s taken to do anything. Cancelling flights to Mexico is going to help? It’s like stopping liquor sales at 8pm.

Yet flights to Europe: AC to LHR, LH to FRA, KL to AMS and AF to CDG.

[WestCoastEcho]

Originally Posted by Johnny Aussie

I’d assume very few are carrying passengers.

A lot of widebody fleets are still grounded.

These latest “restrictions” are so disjointed with so many cracks in them. Not going to really do much good. I’m just shocked at how long it’s taken to do anything. Cancelling flights to Mexico is going to help? It’s like stopping liquor sales at 8pm.

Yet flights to Europe: AC to LHR, LH to FRA, KL to AMS and AF to CDG.

LHR, FRA, AMS and CDG are all major airports with substantial cargo movement.


Mexico isn't a major cargo hub; the majority of air traffic to Mexico is leisure based.

[casper]

Originally Posted by Johnny Aussie

I’d assume very few are carrying passengers.

A lot of widebody fleets are still grounded.

These latest “restrictions” are so disjointed with so many cracks in them. Not going to really do much good. I’m just shocked at how long it’s taken to do anything. Cancelling flights to Mexico is going to help? It’s like stopping liquor sales at 8pm.

Yet flights to Europe: AC to LHR, LH to FRA, KL to AMS and AF to CDG.

Actually the Netherlands curfew is based in science. From contact tracking data they found a large percentage of transmissions occurred during the evening with people getting together for a drink.

Canada and Australia are working with two different objectives.

Australia is trying to stop any COVID getting in so people can have a normal life. Atlantic Canada was doing the same thing. Perhaps an Island mentality in that I know people on Vancouver Island that would like the same.

Canada is focused on ICU beds and trying to keep infection rates low enough that the medical system is not overloaded and people can get medical treatment if they need it. With that strategy you can be disjoint. As a society I think Canadian are willing to go for a grey compromise over clear white/black thinking like some other countries.

[nname]

Originally Posted by Johnny Aussie

Not much to post atm.

Agree... not much to post... but to keep this thread active, this is the international weekly frequency out of YVR for the month of Feb:

DEL 9 (5 AI, 4 AC)
ICN 7 (4 KE, 3 AC)
NRT 6 (3 AC, 3 JL)
HKG 5 (3 AC, 2 CX)
HND 3 (NH)
FRA 3 (LH)
LHR 2 (AC)
CDG 2 (AF)
AMS 2 (KL)
PEK 2 (CA)
MNL 2 (PR)
XMN 2 (MF)
CTU 2 (3U)
TPE 1.5 (1 BR, 0.5 CI*)
PVG 1 (AC)
CAN 1 (CZ)
NKG 1 (MU)

Note: CI operates YVR-TPE every 14 days, hence it's counted as 0.5.

Who would think AI and it's YVR-DEL would ever be the international route with highest frequency out of YVR?

[Johnny Aussie]

^ nice work.

Thanks for posting this.

But you’re right... who would have thought DEL would be YVR’s busiest international route... but nothing makes sense at the moment and probably won’t for quite awhile.

Add in the tech stop / cargo only flights and plenty of heavy intl activity

[nname]

As posted in the Canadian section... Flair is adding Kitchener/Waterloo (YKF) and Ottawa (YOW) this summer.

Current S21 operation from YVR:

YYZ daily*
YYC daily*
YKF daily
YOW daily
YEG 6x weekly (2 via YXS)
YQR 2x weekly
YXE 2x weekly
YWG 2x weekly
YMM 2x weekly
YXS 2x weekly

* = does not operate everyday in both directions


If the schedule holds, then Flair is definitely increasing their foothold at YVR (or most other airports) as we may see as much as 4 Flairs planes at the gate at the same time at 2-3pm:

Arrival: YOW (daily), YYZ (x1), YKF (1357), YEG (1457)
Departure: YOW (daily), YYZ (daily), YKF (1357), YXS (15)

The morning departure will have 2 flights on most days, then departures at noon, evening, and late night will only occur on some days of the week.

The arrival and departure time doesn't really match up though...

[LeftCoaster]

Still not sure what their business model is exactly, but I do like their new (3rd in 3 years) livery over their last couple:





Both courtesy of: https://flyflair.com/flair-media

[Denscity]

I still see that green as painters tape. I just wanna rip it off to reveal the paint underneath lol. A different shade of some sort would look better my 2 cents.

[teriyaki]

Posted on the YVR blog today: https://www.yvr.ca/en/blog/2021/pier-d-expansion

https://youtu.be/kyKWripVZwY


The Pier D Expansion project has officially been completed. The new terminal expansion features eight new gates, a glassed-in island forest with access to the outdoors, an immersive digital experience and a yoga, prayer and quiet room. This was a significant project in the history of YVR and our largest expansion since 1996.

Due to COVID-19, plans to open the facility are on hold. The Pier D Expansion is a strong investment in our future at YVR and positions us well for when air traffic rebounds to pre-pandemic levels.

This milestone expansion could not have been possible without the extraordinary effort by over 500 individuals. We want to especially thank the construction team, led by PCL Construction, the design team, led by Kasian Architecture and Creacom and Eos who brought the digital experience in Pier D to life.

Some of the other features you will be able to find in the new expansion include:

Private nursing room
Pet relief area
Musqueam artist designed vision strips
Hot and cold water bottle refill stations
An abundance of outlets and charging stations
We can’t wait to welcome you to the new space one day. But for now, we hope this glimpse provides some excitement for the future of travel at YVR.

I'm so glad they didn't mothball this at 90% and pushed it through. Look forward to one day walking through here.

[Klazu]

Did they stop construction on the former parkade or is it close to completion? Long time since I have driven by.

[trofirhen]

So Pier D is technically finished. That's great. But only four gates? Oh well, I guess they must be for very large jets. One would hope so, anyway.

[Denscity]

The quote above says 8 new gates and the video says 4 new remote gates.

[nname]

Originally Posted by trofirhen

So Pier D is technically finished. That's great. But only four gates? Oh well, I guess they must be for very large jets. One would hope so, anyway.

Technically, 3 "new" gates: 64, 66, 67.

Gate 62 is also considered new, but it was used as temporary gate a couple of years back.

Gate 60, 61, 63, 65 are remote gates. I guess gate 59 is considered an old gate, but it probably will have to move to the new area.

[trofirhen]

Originally Posted by Denscity

The quote above says 8 new gates and the video says 4 new remote gates.

Thank you for the clarification. That is good to know. I stand corrected.

[connect2source]

Originally Posted by Klazu

Did they stop construction on the former parkade or is it close to completion? Long time since I have driven by.

Been doing the terminal loop every so often when I have business in Richmond. Absolutely no progress on the new parkade or central utilities building since Sept 2020. Rather sad to see, hope it ramps up again soon.

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouve...-parkade-utilities-geoexchange-cancelled

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by connect2source

Been doing the terminal loop every so often when I have business in Richmond. Absolutely no progress on the new parkade or central utilities building since Sept 2020. Rather sad to see, hope it ramps up again soon.

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouve...-parkade-utilities-geoexchange-cancelled

Why would there be any new progress?